


Virtual Reality

by Dalyankiz81



Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017), Call Me By Your Name (2017) RPF, Call Me By Your Name - All Media Types
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst, Birthday Party, Friendship, Happy Ending, Kid cuteness, M/M, Marriage Breakup, Neck Kissing, Nipple Licking, Nudity, Oral Sex, Simultaneous Orgasm, Video & Computer Games, Virtual Reality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:48:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27371464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dalyankiz81/pseuds/Dalyankiz81
Summary: Timmy comes to Armie’s birthday party in 2019 and gives him an intriguing gift..
Relationships: Elizabeth Chambers/Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet/Armie Hammer
Comments: 134
Kudos: 126





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fic in this fandom which I love so much.  
> It’s inspired by an amazing episode of Black Mirror called “Striking Vipers” (if you haven’t seen it you must as it’s brilliant!). I immediately thought of A/T after watching it and knew right away I wanted to write them into this story!  
> It is a WIP but I do have a good idea of which direction the story is heading!  
> (Will add more tags as appropriate as I go along)  
> Sorry for the very short first chapter, I just wanted to set the scene.
> 
> Please read away and let me know what you think 🙏😉

“Happy Birthday man!”

Timmy handed Armie a large blue and white striped gift bag. He’d not long arrived at Armie’s birthday party organised by Liz, a full-on summery affair in the Hammers’ back garden with the BBQ blazing and cocktails being permanently sipped on by other partygoers.

Armie took the gift. “Thanks T, you didn’t need to though! I’m just glad you came”. Timmy just grinned back in that goofy way that Armie adored. Yes _adored_ , if Armie was being completely honest with himself. He knew when he’d decided to invite Timmy to his shindig that he’d inevitably end up experiencing that usual hit of... something he couldn’t quite put his finger on but always occurred whenever Timmy was near. He also knew that there would be alcohol in plentiful supply too so that before long whatever this feeling was would hopefully dispel once the vodka had started to flow through his veins. Besides not inviting Timmy was out of the question anyway, he was one of his best friends after all. Not a long standing one like Tyler or Nick but certainly one who he couldn’t imagine not having in his life. Not since they met 3 years ago filming together during, what Armie would happily admit to anyone, one of the finest and most enriching times of his life.

“Well open it then”. Timmy’s voice in the present broke his reverie. Armie peered inside the bag and pulled out a thin rectangular cardboard box. It was a games console of some kind with a preloaded game called Striking Vipers, although he’d never seen anything like it before. Armie was instantly overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness and couldn’t believe Timmy had spent this money on him. “This is awesome Timmy, thank you so much!” as he enveloped Timmy into a man hug right there in the middle of the lawn. _Well what’s the point of trying to keep a distance?_ Armie thought, seeing as that familiar frission of adrenaline was already running through his body anyway.  
“And there’s something else” said Timmy, as he broke free of their embrace and pointed towards the gift bag. Armie opened up the bag and reached in to find a small package about the size of a matchbox. By this point Timmy’s excitement and glee was enough to light up 10 rooms. “That” he explained “is an addition to the console, it’s a magnetic virtual reality pad that you attach to your temple and when you log in to play it transports you right into the virtual reality arena!” Armie looks at him agape. “Trust me” Timmy continues “I know it’s hard to believe but I’ve got one myself and it really works, it’s incredible - you can even feel the blows of a punch or a kick if you’re in a fighting game! But you obviously come out of the VR experience at the end unscathed of course” he added with a laugh.

By now Armie’s brain was almost short circuiting at this new found information. Did this mean he could play fight with Timmy, buddy up with him, _touch him?_ All in the safety and privacy of a virtual reality world? That was sure to be dangerous territory. Or was he just overthinking things, based on what, quite frankly, was probably just an innocent gesture on his friend’s part? “Thanks Tim, that DOES sound incredible - isn’t it amazing what technology can do these days?” He quickly realised he was spouting nonsense and just added a meaningful “Thank you again” earning him one of those smiles that made his stomach flip and his heart soar. He placed a loose arm over Timmy’s shoulder “Anyway let’s get you a drink or 5”

The party continued on throughout the evening. Armie had definitely consumed more than his fair share of Tito’s Gibsons, and naturally Ashton and Nick had encouraged him to climb aboard the shot train in addition. However no amount of vodka or tequila could numb the sting he felt when Timmy announced he was off at around 9pm. An early start in the morning apparently. After making Timmy promise they’d definitely catch up again before he headed back to NYC he waved him goodbye and then proceeded to join Ashton and his girlfriend in a round of Jägerbombs.

Once the guests had all left by around midnight Liz announced that she was taking the kids, who had exhausted themselves by staying up much later than their bedtime and running around the garden with their friends, to bed and she would be following suit. She’d clean up in the morning she told him. With that Armie decided to head indoors himself but he was still pretty buzzed and wide awake after an amazing day and night with fantastic people. He eyed the games console, still in its box, which he’d brought in earlier and put in the corner of the lounge. He’ll set it up tomorrow and take a look at what Striking Vipers entails. If it isn’t too violent or graphic then perhaps he’ll let Harper and Ford play it, without the VR element of course. If it’s too mature then he can buy other games for it, Timmy had told him earlier. He’d spent a good portion of this evening (when he wasn’t drinking) battling with his subconscious over whether it’d be a good idea to enter into this virtual world with Timmy at all. I mean, as far as he could see, Timmy would embrace it for what it is - two friends merely playing the ultimate game together, nothing more. _But him?_ Being in such close proximity to Timmy and being able to feel his touch in a private world, even if it is from the blow of a punch? How was that not going to screw with him? He needed another drink he decided.

He sank down into the comfort of the plush leather armchair with his 3 fingers of Jack Daniels in hand. After taking a generous mouthful he let his head fall back onto the back of the armchair, relishing in the warmth of the golden liquid penetrating his insides and the fact that his eyelids were finally starting to feel heavy with tiredness. He finished his nightcap in another couple of mouthfuls and slowly started to doze off until he was woken by a beep from an incoming text. Another birthday message from a well wisher he assumed. His heart nearly skipped a beat when he saw Timmy’s name flash up on the screen:

_“Can’t sleep. Fancy a game?”_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armie decides to dip his feet into unknown waters...

Armie’s heart started beating wildly in his chest. So that was it then, his opportunity to not head into unfamiliar territory with Timmy had been swiped away by a single text. He considered that he could just ignore it, pretend he was already long asleep. The only big problem was that he now knew Timmy was sitting awake somewhere in Wilshire, at his pal’s house who had put him up for the few days he was going to be in LA, so ignoring him was, frankly, not an option he cared for. He also knew that Timmy must have his own console with him if he’d offered him a game.  
  
He pinched the bridge of his nose as he leaned forward and screwed his eyes shut for a second. _Oh what the hell harm can it do?_ he thought as he quickly typed out a breezy “ _Sure_ ” and pressed send. Timmy quickly responded saying it was easy to set up, Armie just needed to connect the machine to the TV with the supplied HDMI cable to view the setup options and choose his character that he would essentially become should he decide to play in VR. There was a separate control panel for this step, and also for playing in standard play mode. He still wasn’t sure if he wanted to do this whole VR thing just yet to be honest, not tonight anyway. He scrolled through the vast list of characters and eventually opted for a blond, spiky haired chap called Elliot who wore a leather waistcoat over his casual white T-shirt and black jeans. It really wasn’t lost on Armie why he’d chosen this character, it was less to do with the fact they shared the same short blond hair and everything to do with his name being remarkably similar to something else... Without thinking he picked up his mobile and pressed on the call button next to Timmy’s message. It was answered within the first ring.

“Who are YOU gonna be then?” he probed jokingly before Timmy could even get a word in. He was vaguely aware that he was slurring but, given the amount of vodka, tequila, Jägermeister and various other concoctions handed to him over the course of the evening, it really wasn’t a surprise and Armie didn’t give a shit if Timmy noticed to be honest. Timmy giggled and it was like music to Armie’s ears despite his head being awash with booze. “A ha, my character is established and practiced Hammer so you’d better come in strong if I was you! By the way, not telling you who, you’ll find out soon enough!”.   
Armie couldn’t help the smile spread across his face at Timmy’s teasing. That’s what he’d always loved about them - yes _loved -_ the easy harmless flirtation that came naturally to the pair of them. It’s what he always believed enabled them to provide such a ridiculously hot chemistry between their characters on film three years ago, and then afterwards what made the intense press touring seem like the best lads’ vacation he’d ever been on. “Ok fair enough asshole!”

“So..” Timmy cautiously asked after a beat “What about the VR element, you up for it man?” Armie hesitated and he found himself nervously chewing on his lower lip. But Timmy piped up once again as if to answer the question Armie never asked. “I’ll be honest, it is a head-fuck the first time you enter the arena, I’m not gonna lie. Took me a little while to get used to it”. Armie momentarily wondered how many others Timmy had played with in this world. “But you have to just embrace your surroundings as if you’re having a really super vivid dream, and you’ll seriously end up loving it, I swear!” Timmy continued. Armie was beyond refusing this experience now after the enthusiasm Timmy had put into selling it to him. “Ok ok I’m up for it... so what do I do with this magnetic pad then?” Timmy explained that he needed to activate it by placing it over the console motion sensor for a few seconds, anything up to 10 actually, so it can sync with his character. “Then you just pick it up and hold it on the tip of your forefinger like you would a contact lens and place it on your temple. It will move around slightly until it attaches firmly in place. There’s only one point it can lock on to”. Armie was bemused and blown away by this, he had no idea that the human body had a magnetic field in the cranium that could attach a foreign body if required. An image of people walking around with decorative fridge magnets stuck to the side of their heads flashed through his mind and he almost snorted at this. “Oh and another thing” Timmy’s voice distracted him again. “Once you enter the arena, you’ll appear unconscious to the outside world so you might want to make sure you won’t be stumbled upon by anyone! Guess I’ll see you in there man!” and then he was gone.  
  
Armie quickly assessed that Liz will be in a deep slumber already as she’d been enjoying the cocktails in abundance herself, and the kids he realised will probably sleep right through until Monday. He was safe. He picked up the magnet and inspected it through his slightly squiffy perspective. It looked and felt like a very small, perfectly polished onyx stone. It took just a few seconds after placing it upon the console for a gentle beep to sound, similar to a phone’s keypad tone, signalling that it had synchronised with the game. He took a deep breath and picked it up placing it straight onto his temple. He moved it around a little, as if massaging a sleep balm into the area, and then felt a strange but in no way uncomfortable pull from within as it locked into place. _Ok so far, so good_ he thought. He didn’t want to admit to Timmy or anyone that he was slightly apprehensive about exposing his body to any weird new technology, especially if he knew nothing about it, he liked to be in the knowledge about stuff like this. But this all seemed ok. _Only one thing left to do I guess._ He sat back in his armchair and pressed the Play button onscreen. Within a few seconds Armie was overcome by an intense tiredness and felt his surroundings start to fade away in front of his eyes. He wasn’t scared though, he trusted Timmy implicitly and so he let himself succumb to the feeling.

His eyes flicked open again a second later and he was no longer in his lounge armchair with an empty glass to his side but in a sunny valley type setting with mountains to his left and a forest to his right. He looked down quickly at himself and, sure enough, there he was clad in the leather waistcoat he’d never owned in his life! He reached up and patted his head to find a trendy spiked-up hairstyle, a far cry from his slightly flattened coiffure from earlier that contained a combination of BBQ smoke, alcohol scent and sweat. One more thing to check. He pinched a great big hunk of flesh on his forearm and squeezed tightly. Yep definitely feeling sensation, he concluded as he attempted to rub away the intense stinging he’d just subjected his own arm to.   
_Where was Timmy?_ he wondered. Perhaps he hadn’t logged in yet. He’ll just wait. That went well for all of about 15 seconds before Armie’s impatience, _or was it anxiety,_ kicked in.   
“Timotheé?” he called cautiously. He knew he must be nervous if he was using his full name.   
A little pink-haired diva dressed in an electric blue all in one bodysuit emerged from behind the trees. She had a selection of chunky silver rings on both hands and spiked black leather boots. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. 

“It’s Purly actually!”

Armie, or Elliot rather, started to laugh hysterically. “What the fuck are you wearing man? Why a chick, first of all?” He couldn’t help himself snorting. Purly just put her hands on her hips and gave him an amused look “Don’t take the piss asshole! This is my character and she’s badass. She earned “these”, gesturing to her studded boots “and these”, pointing to her set of knuckledusters. “You can earn cool shit too if you play the game right”.   
She walked up to Elliot and gave him a playful punch on the arm. “Do you feel that?”   
Elliot looked incredulous as he clutched his arm. “Yes fucker, I just checked that thanks very much!” which earned him a smirk from his opponent. “Good, then you’re in the zone”

“Ok so show me what you’ve got first of all” threatened Purly. Armie didn’t know what he was meant to do so he just let Elliot wait to be guided. Until he suddenly received a sharp blow to the ribs courtesy of Pinky.  
“Aghh u motherfucker!” cried Elliot as he doubled over but the pain quickly subsided to his surprise and he launched himself full-force at Purly, right hooking her and sending her flying back several feet.   
“Come on then” jeered Elliot “If that’s how you wanna play bitch..” to which he swiftly received a kick in the shins and a punch to the left side of his face. However, now he was starting to get used to the pain only lasting seconds before disappearing completely, he was beginning to have fun.  
Timmy was so right, this is absolutely freaking awesome and whoever developed it was a genius. He knew he wouldn’t be hurting Timmy for long whatever move he pulled as they were only characters in this game after all and they’d both come out of it absolutely fine. He careered towards Purly and landed her a spectacular thump right in the face, then he administered a sidekick to her torso for good measure.   
This back and forth carried on for a few minutes, becoming more and more vicious but nothing they couldn’t both handle. Until Elliot suddenly saw a blurred mass of black and silver heading towards him and he felt a searing pain in his cheek. He stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. He lifted his hand to his face and saw blood trickling through his fingers.  
 _That bitch had bloody drop kicked him in the face with her spikes!_ He knew that the pain (and the wound too presumably) would disappear soon enough but he was feeling pretty shaken up by this particular impact and considered calling time on tonight’s game. 

Purly rushed over and crouched down beside him. “I’m so sorry Armie, here let me have a look” She swiped her finger over the gash on his face and she then too was covered in his blood. Armie was surprised to hear her using his own name instead of his character’s. After all Timmy knows that it’s just a virtual reality and not an actual reality doesn’t he? He looked up at her in confusion. He didn’t know exactly how much time had passed when Purly placed her other hand on the right side of his face and started stroking his cheek. She leaned in closer to him, was only inches away from his face. _What the fuck was happening?  
_ Before he could stop himself Elliot had snaked his hand round the back of Purly’s neck, caressed her face too with his thumb and pulled her down urgently onto his lips. Purly didn’t take long to reciprocate and started kissing him back with all the passion in the world. Elliot closed his eyes. All he could now see in his mind was the face of his best friend and feel the lips he’d got so used to three years ago in Italy. His last thought before he fully yielded to their intimate contact?

_Oh Fuck..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They’re in the zone and things ensue...

The lips that were currently attached to his own continued their frenzied and passionate assault.   
He could actually hear his own rapid heartbeat pounding in his head. When he opened his mouth further to deepen the connection the softest pad of a tongue he’d ever felt in his life found its way inside and proceeded to caress his own.

Actually, he realised, that wasn’t completely true - _he had felt it before._

Elliot allowed his hand to travel south until it reached the peachy swell of his opponent’s ass.  
Ha, _opponent..._ What an joke that was! He’d have laughed out loud at that had his entire being not been supercharged with an overwhelming combination of electricity and intense euphoria.

The lips moved away from his own and planted back down just below his chin. The softest tongue again, painting small circles in the hollow at the side of his throat. From there they made their way up the side of his neck in a series of wet, electrifying kisses which was causing him to fire off atomic sparks of energy in every which direction.

Elliot opened his eyes. It was a stark and cutting realisation, finding that he was in a clinch with the pink haired chick dressed in blue rather than the person he could see in his head only seconds earlier.  
He felt a hand travel down his chest, then over his stomach until it reached the waistband of his jeans. From there it found it’s way under his T-shirt and started to make its journey back up over his bare chest.  
Elliot closed his eyes again. It was Timmy’s hands he could feel no doubt about it - thumbing over his nipple, running over the top of his shoulder, caressing him down the side of his torso.  
  
He was so turned on he realised, with panic, that he might actually peak and offload right there and then.

The other hand moved away from his face and started fumbling with the button on his jeans.  
His eyes flew open and his breath hitched in his throat. This was getting way out of hand. His head and, well, his cock were having an almighty power struggle of superiority and he needed to reset his equilibrium or something pretty quickly.  
He placed a hand on Purly’s shoulder and gently pushed her away so she was forced to release his neck from her eager seduction.

“Timmy...” he warned.

It didn’t cross his mind that he’d just referred to his tempter by her controller’s name.  
After all this gone far beyond playing a game.  
Purly stopped and looked him straight in the eye, her features softening.  
And in that gaze Elliot could see two familiar pools of green that told him in an instant that Timmy was nowhere near done.

She replaced her hand on his face, brushing gently across his lips with her thumb.

“It’s ok Armie, just relax” she began. “Don’t overthink this. It’s, you know, just virtual reality. Fake. There won’t be any repercussions...”

No repercussions? _Really??_

This was a huge deal, could Timmy not see that? How the fuck was he meant to NOT overthink it?  
He was about to voice this when Purly spoke up again.

“Look... I can end the game if you want Armie, just say and I’ll do it. Whatever you want”

And there it was.  
  
Armie’s get out of jail free card being handed square to him.  
  
It would take just one little word to save himself from falling head first into a situation he had no idea how to handle.  
  
Truth be told though, he knew damn well that he didn’t want this to end. He was clearly too far gone to fight against his desires by now.   
  
So he decided to shut down all his fears and reservations, and responded to Purly in the way he knew best by leaning up to join her in a union of mouths once again then, wrapping an entire arm around her neck, pulled her back down towards him.

Their kisses became more urgent, messy, their making-out frenzied.   
  
Things escalated quickly and before long Elliot realised he had been relieved of his leather waistcoat and his T-shirt.   
He grasped Purly on both sides of her neck and started to administer languid wet kisses down the length of her throat and across her collarbone.   
The sounds she was making shot straight to his cock, the knowledge of what he was doing to Timmy with his touch again threatened to make him blow his load.

He felt a brief moment of detachment as Purly rolled off of him to settle at his side. He mirrored her movement, rolling over himself to ensure their connection wasn’t broken for long and returned to ravaging her neck and clavicle.   
He glided his hand down the length of her body until he reached that sweet spot between her legs.   
She started to pull down the zip on the front of her bodysuit and continued all the way until it stopped just below her belly button. Elliot retraced back up towards the opening and slipped his hand inside, cupping a perfectly formed breast and thumbing over the firm peak.

His mind was zip-wiring all over the place, in a mass of contradictions.  
  
It definitely hit him that it was weird as fuck that Timmy’s alias was a goddamn _woman_ with all the curves any red-blooded male could appreciate.  
But he also knew that it was a hundred percent Timmy who was on the receiving end of all the sensation, languishing in all the pleasure.

That was why he was still here was it not?  
  
He leaned over further without pause and took her nipple into his mouth, licking and teasing and alternating with devouring it with his entire mouth.  
The lewd breathless sounds coming from Purly was sending his consciousness into a catatonic whirlwind.  
She plunged both hands into his hair and was pulling fistfuls with each attack from his skilled tongue.

It felt good - _really fucking good._

Elliot raised his head to indulge in some more lip on lip action and poured his entire soul and libido into a scorching hot meeting of mouths. He was sure he could feel Purly quiver underneath. That was fine by him.  
Until she started to fidget and wriggle south, shuffling herself along the ground until she was level with his straining crotch. Elliot lifted himself up onto his hands and maintained an intense eye contact with Purly until she let her eyes drop to his bulging and animated man-tent and slowly undid his jeans button.

Elliot closed his eyes - _was this really happening?_  
  
After unzipping his fly she made easy work of grabbing the waistband with both hands and releasing his entire being from its enclosure.

Elliot had to concentrate hard when he felt the wet, warm sanctuary of Purly’s mouth wrapped around his throbbing cock - concentrate on not shooting an obscene amount of come deep into her throat in an instant.  
She set into motion a rhythmic, delicious pace grasping his hips and pulling him closer so she could devour him all at once with her insatiable little mouth.  
Elliot realised pretty quickly that if he let her continue it was going to be over much much sooner than they probably both wanted.  
He placed a hand under her chin and gripped it as he pulled back and watched his swollen pecker slide out from between her pre-ejaculate moistened lips.  
She appeared momentarily dismayed by the sudden loss of contact, so much so that Elliot found himself wanting to reassure her. Which he did by leaning down and sucking a desperate purple tattoo into the hollow of her neck.  
The mark will be gone before long he knew, no harm done.

He shifted himself down, peeling Purly’s suit off of her shoulders as he went and down the length of her upper body. She raised her hips so he could continue the unveiling and roll the material down all the way to her ankles. At which point she shucked off her her right boot and removed her leg fully from the confines of the garment.  
Elliot ran his hand up from her ankle to her knee and pushed it to one side to grant him a full view of that gorgeous inner thigh.  
He gave one final look to Purly who’s eyes were blazing with intense want before he ducked between her legs and started to apply long irresistible strokes up the inside of her thigh with his tongue. He nibbled and sucked his way up to the crease where her leg met her pelvis and then, crossing over, he repeated the action down the other side.

The cries of pleasure coming from Purly were obscene and loud, and the sweetest sound Elliot had ever heard.

He tried to ignore the lack of a hard and dripping member which he was _aching_ to get his mouth on, and instead focus on what he was doing to his Timmy. He kissed up the centre of Purly’s stomach until he reached the base of her neck and realisation set in.

The realisation that there was one course of action left now.

The realisation also that he’d had no idea up until this point that this intimacy and connection with his best friend was, in fact, everything he needed in his life. It was as clear as crystal, all those weird feelings he had on the outside whenever Tim was around. 

For three whole years of his life. 

He’d never experienced such feelings for anyone else, not his other friends, not even for his own wife recently.

  
Oh shit, _Liz..._

He chased away an image of her, hand on hip, looking at him with disapproval and contempt as he slid his left hand under Purly’s knee and lifted her leg over his shoulder.  
Blocked out a memory of his wedding day as he held Purly’s gaze and pushed into her with all his libidinous instinct, all the time fantasising that it was Timmy’s tight little ass he was penetrating.

The feeling was unbelievable, more intense than he could ever have imagined.

And his partner was clearly experiencing the same level of exhilaration judging by the way she had attempted to throw her head back even further into the ground, her eyes closed in pure ecstasy.

Elliot tested the water by thrusting shallow a couple of times then he retracted almost fully before plunging back in with an animalistic force.  
Purly cried out in fervent pleasure, her hands buried deep into his scalp.  
  
He repeated this action once again then began to plough into her at an insane rate. 

It took on average 3 or 4 thrusts for Elliot to feel himself building to his point of no return.  
The magic figure turned out to be lucky number 7 when he finally reached it and the most explosive orgasm he’d ever felt in his life threatened to consume him. It had more than likely been the contracting and fluttering muscle surrounding his cock that pushed him fully over the edge.  
Purly’s leg shuddered violently over his shoulder as she reached her own climax and rode out her orgasm, a series of breathless and carnal sounds coming from her mouth which could easily have been mistaken for a creature in the wild.

It was several seconds before Elliot regained himself and was brought back down from his summit.  
  
He looked down at Purly, red-faced and fucked out, and saw an expression in her eyes.

A look that pierced its way right through to the very core of his soul.

  
“ _Fuck_ Timmy...” he began.

Purly put a finger to his lips.

“Shhh... Just don’t say it Armie”

  
She started to sit up, scrambled around to retrieve her discarded footwear.

“It’s time to go anyway, it’s getting late”

Elliot didn’t even have time to absorb this and respond before Purly pushed him clear of her and climbed to her feet.

“Sleep well man, speak soon yeah?”

Elliot watched her walk away and, as had happened earlier, his surroundings began to fade before his eyes once again.

  
  
Armie jolted awake, his senses shattered to smithereens. He was breathing fast, so fast that he thought his lungs were going to collapse.  
  
His eyes adjusted to his surroundings.  
  
A dimly lit lounge, an empty glass to his side, a games controller on the arm of the sofa...

He looked down and realised to his dismay he had the most enormous, raging hard-on.  
Well that was no fucking surprise.

Despite his state Armie attempted to try and regulate himself by concentrating on his breathing. It helped a little.  
Helped to preserve his lungs anyway.

  
His mind on the other hand was truly screwed.

How could he let this happen? He chastised himself. I mean, right from the point he’d learned of the powers of virtual reality he knew this was probably not going to end well.

Well to be honest it had ended very favourably on one hand... He still had the unyielding ache in his groin to remind him. He needed to deal with that before the night was out.

  
He rubbed the palm of his hand over his eyes and pulled the magnet from his head, tossing it across the room.

Was it at all possible that he _could_ just... try and think of what had happened as a really hot, extremely vivid dream?  
Like Timmy had told him to earlier at the party.   
_No repercussions?_

He guessed he could.

But then he’d also had his hands all over Timmy.  
Kissed his mouth, licked his thigh, _been deep inside his body..._

He would have felt those things himself.  
  
The facade may have been Purly the pink-haired seductress but it was all Timmy whom he’d heard cry out feverishly when the unrelenting waves of his release crescendoed over him. _His Timmy..._

Armie made to stand up. He grabbed the empty glass and walked over to where his bottle of Jack was on the table.  
Without any hesitation or regard for his almost certain hangover he’d have in a few hours he unscrewed the top and poured out a generous measure, which he swiftly knocked back in one smooth motion. It burned his throat yet he felt impervious to its effects.   
He felt an unwelcome twitch in his cock reminding him that it was still waiting patiently for attention. _Right then..._

He emerged from the bathroom 10 minutes later having violently coated several of the bathroom tiles and then attempting to clean up as best as he could in his drunken, satiated state.  
He wasn’t in the least bit sorry that it had taken a pair of intoxicating green eyes and full pink lips to make him jizz all over the wall and his hand.

He walked into the bedroom where Liz was gently snoring away and he momentarily considered not risking waking her by joining her. He could sleep on the sofa instead.   
He looked at her sleeping peacefully and felt his heart constrict in his chest.

This was wrong, so wrong. All of it. She was his wife, the mother of his children. How could he think such deep things for someone else?

This _experience_ he’d shared with Timmy needed to be locked away he decided. Into a corner of his brain where he would put it down as a momentary lapse of reason.  
After all Timmy had seemed pretty nonchalant about the whole thing anyway. He’d walked away from him without looking back for God sakes.  
Acknowledging this caused a wrench in his gut that made him feel just a little bit sick.

He walked over to the bed and climbed in behind his wife. 

Liz stirred and turned to face him. She sleepily placed a hand on his face. “Hey babe, what’s up?”

  
  
Armie tried not to let his entire expanse of emotions betray him, every single one raw and threatening to expose him.

  
“Nothing sweets, I was just chilling. Sleep well, sweet dreams”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeek. How the heck is Armie gonna feel when he wakes up?
> 
> I’m sorry for the slightly angsty ending in this chapter but I promise it will get better.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after...

He turned to look at the woman walking down the aisle towards him.

She looked breathtaking, her stunning pink locks piled on top of her head in an elegant up-do, the jewels on her tiara glistening under the church lights.  
Sure, electric blue was an unusual choice for a wedding dress but if there was anything he knew about his wife to be it was that she absolutely loved to stand out from the crowd.   
And at this moment in time he couldn’t love her more.

_“I Armand, take thee Elizabeth... To be my lawfully wedded wife...”_

_“You may kiss the bride...”_

_Applause and cheers from their family and friends._

Armie went to embrace his new wife but she took a step back from him. And then another, and then another.

It occurred to him very soon that she was not actually in control of her body, it’s as if she was being pulled away from him by a greater force than humankind.  
He lunged forward and tried to grab her hand but it was hopeless.   
She drifted further and further away from him. Her features became distant, her silhouette even. Faded. And then it was gone completely.

Dumbfounded, Armie turned to face the congregation consisting of his nearest and dearest and realised with utter bewilderment that he was completely alone.  
Not just alone but standing in an old stone doorway looking out to a sprawling garden, an orchard perhaps judging by the abundance of fruit trees.  
The sun was shining, the grass lush and green. 

Huh, last time he’d looked it was November and the sky was grey and overcast with the trees void of their leaves.

He stepped out into the blazing heat and realised with relief that he actually wasn’t alone.  
There were voices nearby, laughter.   
He followed the sound and eventually made out a group of people standing around.  
There were cameras too, microphones, a whole filming crew by the looks.

He noticed a young dark-haired man first who couldn’t have been more than about twenty. He wore shorts and a striped T-shirt.  
Armie wasn’t sure exactly but he thought he recognised him from somewhere, someone he’d met before at some point. However he couldn’t think of where from or when.

He continued towards the group and the guy standing with his back to him turned and suddenly shot his arms up in the air as if he was about to encompass him in a great big hug.

“Ah Armie! Thank God”

The man had an extraordinarily strong Italian accent. Very strong but very friendly. He had scruffy hair and a beard but a soft and endearing face.

“We didn’t think you was coming”

Armie looked at him in confusion as the man gestured for him to join them

“Come, come tesero, we have a lot to do today”

  
Ok so the Italian guy obviously knew him, and possibly so did the handsome brunette who was just watching this interaction play out, arms folded across his chest.  
But who were they? And how did they know him?

Armie started to walk towards the pair but he only got a few steps before the ground suddenly gave way from underneath him. He plummeted into a deep abyss and was falling at speed.

_Shit he’s gonna hit the ground soon..._

  
  
Armie jolted awake violently, his arm crashing into a glass of water that someone had helpfully left by the bed and sending it flying.  
He was severely out of breath and to his chagrin found that his entire body from the waist up was drenched in sweat. 

He glanced over to the other side of the bed, empty... His heart leaped into his mouth.

_Liz..._

  
He sat up in a panic to face the open door and could just about make out the sound of the shower being switched on. He released the breath he’d been holding and realised it was probably her who’d also left him the glass of water.

He took a few deep and careful breaths to try calm himself down and laid back down on his pillow.

_Jesus and Fuck,_ it was just a dream. All of it.

Relief flooded him like a tsunami.

Marrying a pink-haired Liz, her disappearing act? And then jumping forward 6 years and encountering Luca and Timmy doing their thing outside in the grounds?

_What the fuck was that about?_

Not to mention his sexually-charged battle liaison with his little friend in the valley with the mountains and trees.

Christ, he needed to stop drinking so much.

  
He pushed the covers back off of him and swung his legs round to the side of the bed. His foot squelched down on the sodden carpet making him jump. He’d forgotten about that.

He tentatively climbed to his feet and gave himself a few seconds to test his balance.  
When the inevitable wobble in his brain had settled, he made for the door.

His head was banging, absolutely pounding. He needed some aspirin or something fast.

He walked past Harper and Ford’s closed bedroom door and thanked his lucky stars he’d let them stay up late last night.

_Nearly there_

He walked into the lounge and his stomach dropped to the floor.

  
A glass and half a bottle of Jack on the table. 

A games controller on the side of the armchair.

And what was that glinting in the morning sun over there on the floor? 

He walked over to see and to his horror identified it as the virtual reality chip he’d flung across the room more than a few hours ago.

The impending sense of dread started to cloud him.   
_So it wasn’t a dream then? Well not that part anyway.  
_ Another sensation began to infiltrate through him though. Was it _adrenaline?  
_

The memories started to flood back. 

  
Purly... Throwing punches... Getting kicked in the face. 

And then the things that ensued after that...

Finally, Timmy. _His Timmy_.

He sighed heavily and plonked down into an armchair he was so thankful was there, resting his head down on his knees. He was aware that his body was still calling out for that Advil but he couldn’t think a logical thought right now.

The same realisation whirring around in his head:

_  
That was real. That was REAL! Holy fuck..._

Well, as real as being able to feel things, physical things.

His heart rate sped up at this, a sense of euphoria almost creeping in amongst the voices in his head chiding him for getting himself into a _situation._

  
What the hell must Timmy think of him? He lifted his head up to contemplate.

But hang on, wasn’t it Tim who had made advances on him first? In the guise of a video character, mind.

Armie had to chase away a memory of looking up to the sky whilst his neck and earlobe were being sucked on. He felt a twitch down below and silently berated himself.

  
Perhaps he just needs to talk to Timmy, maybe he’ll find that he too had a little crisis of his own when he woke up this morning and that they’d talk on the phone and have a good old laugh about it later on.   
_No repercussions_ as he’d said.   
He bet that Timmy had probably been up for hours already, he did say last night that he had an early start but for what Armie had no clue. He hadn’t said.

He considered texting him to say good morning and see if conversation about last night was initiated.  
Actually he hadn’t even glanced at a clock since waking up - for all he knew it might no longer be morning.   
_  
Right, like THAT was important_...

This was ridiculous, he thought. Timmy was one of his best friends, and they had loads in common and always had easy conversation. So why was it so hard to articulate what he wanted to say to him?

With a final swipe of a hand across his face he stood up and resolved to wait til later to text Tim so he didn’t disturb him doing whatever. He headed into the kitchen and grabbed the biggest glass he could find. He turned the tap on, letting it run for several seconds so it was as cold as possible. 

_Yes ice cold water, that’s what he needs right now._

Shit _,_ he’s just remembered he still needs to clean up the spillage in the bedroom.

The packet of Advil was out on the side already. He must have had the foresight to prepare for the inevitable last night so he was not having to rummage around hunting for it when he needed it most.  
Or maybe Liz had done it?  
That twist in his gut reared it’s head again at the thought of his wife. His loyal, considerate wife.

Two ibuprofen, a latte and an espresso later Armie was starting to regain his composure and feel half normal. The mist in his head had lifted somewhat and he no longer felt like he wanted to throw up with every movement.

Well it was about time at 12.30 in the afternoon. He shook his head at the blatant debauchery he’d subjected himself to.

It occurred to him that Liz hadn’t come down for her coffee fix yet although he’d heard her finish in the bathroom and moving around upstairs. To be honest she had probably done her breakfast routine already seeing as it was he who’d slept in til almost midday.   
He stood to head back upstairs for his own shower.

On the way he stopped by their bedroom to check his phone he’d left on the bedside table - the newest iPhone, a birthday gift from Liz. He tried the ignore the pang this time.   
He realised to his relief that it’d escaped a soaking earlier. Bloody miracles do happen sometimes.

A couple of WhatsApp notifications graced the screen, a missed call from Evelyn (presumably to say Happy Birthday) and a text.

_Timmy..._

With shaking hands he pressed it to open the message:

_“Morning sleepy! That was wild last night. Really really enjoyed myself. Thank you!”_

  
??

Was he referring to the party or... the other thing?

Sure the party WAS wild, legendary even if he was being self-assured and arrogant.

But the fact that Timmy might just be referring to his birthday gathering shot him down like a pellet-struck bird.

_Really? Is that all you’ve got to say Chalamet?_

He felt a gaping emptiness in his chest start to form.

Armie collected his conflicted thoughts and tried to replace them with a sense of logic.

Ok so either Timmy really did think nothing of the whole episode and is just sweeping over it, as if it’s something he does with all his friends to pass time on the weekends.

The thought made him nauseous.

Or he’s simply trying to deny it ever happening. _Because he regrets it?_

  
Both of these scenarios didn’t lend themselves to Armie positively. He just sat stunned holding his phone in his hand for a few seconds, so out of it he didn’t notice Liz walk into the room.

“Morning babe! Or should I say afternoon?” She flashed him a megawatt smile.

 _Jesus_ , his eyes couldn’t deal with her pearly whites right now. He wondered why she’d felt the need to have yet another tooth whitening procedure anyway, they were fine as they were before.

“How’s your head?”

He forced a smile and nodded his response.

“Yeah, good thanks. Not too bad now after some pills. There’s fresh coffee in the pot downstairs if you fancy it”

She came to stand in front of him and said nothing but placed her hand on his face, teasing his day old stubble.

“I’ve got a meeting with Karen about a new product supplier for the bakery. I’ll be out til late afternoon probably”.  
It did occur to him that she was dressed so formal for a Sunday, in a pencil skirt and white blouse.

She leant down to give him a quick kiss on the lips and turned to leave.

“The kids are still asleep” he called after her as she exited the room.

“Yeah leave them be” she called back, “it won’t do them any harm. See you later”

Armie looked back down at the floor, his shoulders slumped in defeat and resignation.

Great, so he had neither Liz or the kids to distract him today it seemed. Brilliant...

Ordinarily this would be very welcome.

  
He lay back on the bed that Liz must have made after her shower. Picked up his phone.

Maybe he could give Ashton a call. Or Nick. Get a distraction from their recollections of last night.

Actually, he recalled, Nick disappeared for quite a while at one point. And so did the party planner who Liz had drafted in to help with the organisation. There’s gotta be a story there.

  
He dialled Nick, it rang four or five times then diverted to voicemail. _Fuck._

He tried Ashton, that went to his answerphone straight away. _Bullshit._

  
He scrolled his finger to Timmy in his contacts and hovered his finger over the call button.

Was this about to be a major faux pas on his part?

_Oh whatever, fuck it!  
_

He lowered his finger to the screen.

It rang twice. Armie’s heart was practically beating out of his chest. On the third ring his recipient picked up.

“Hey Armie! How are you feeling today?”

_He sounds bloody cheerful the smarmy asshole._

He didn’t know what he was expecting really though.

“Yeah not bad thanks T”

He tried to keep his voice neutral.

“Did you get done what you needed to this morning?”

_  
What in God’s name was that?!_

_Pointless small talk when there’s something bigger and far more pressing that needs to be addressed?_ _Really Hammer_?

  
Timmy started to tell him about his morning activities which he needed to get up at 6am for apparently but Armie wasn’t taking in an ounce of the information being offered. And still Timmy continued.

_Did this kid just love the sound of his own voice or something? Give it a rest._

Armie mentally implored himself immediately for referring to Timmy as a kid and having any negative thought whatsoever about him.

But he realised he needed to put a stop to this dancing around, cut through the crap cake and get straight to the point.

He cut in on his friend mid-sentence.

“Timmy... about last night” He took a deep breath. “How the fuck did that happen?”

The line fell silent at the other end. Armie waited with anticipation and a little bit of apprehension for his response.

“Tim?”

  
He heard a sigh. 

“Armie I told you, it’s virtual reality, it’s just a game... I didn’t know it was going to play out that way but I just went along for the ride when it did”

Armie was completely floored by the response and he got the feeling that this statement wasn’t completely true. In particular the part about not knowing.

Realisation began to dawn.

_Oh..._

  
Did Timmy invite him to play in the first place to instigate this whole set up? Is that why he’d bought him the console? Does he also...?

His thoughts interrupted by Timmy again.

  
“Did you feel weird about it this morning or something?”

_What??_ What sort of a question was that?

He expressed this out loud, incredulous.

  
“Of course I did Timmy! How could I not? Didn’t you?? I know you felt things just as much as I did”.

“Uh huh” replied Timmy matter of factly. “And I enjoyed it, and I’m not even sorry”

Armie had no idea what to do with this revelation. He was in mild state of shock.

“Did you not enjoy it Armie?”   
Timmy broke the cyclone in his head onceagain. He sounded fragile, desperate almost.

  
Ok his moment of truth, finally bestowed upon him.

Speak or die?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my GOD! How is this going to play out? What’s the consequences for both of them?
> 
> So sorryyyy for the cliffhanger but I promise it’s getting better 🙈


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of things to note with this chapter:
> 
> If you’re wondering who Mitzy is, that’s my darling little cat who passed away earlier this week 😿 So I decided to write her into this story as a tribute ❤️  
> Consequently the Hammers also have a pet cat in addition to Archie! 😊
> 
> Also for anyone who doesn’t know “Old Faithful” is a cone geyser located in Yellowstone National Park, WY.
> 
> Enjoy!!

The air hung thick between them. Well it would’ve had they been in the same room.

Armie prepared to speak his truth. Fearful almost of the possible outcome.  
Well Timmy had presented his truth right there and now it was his turn.   
_Or had he?  
_Who knew what was going through that head of his? What his perception of their encounter was?

He blew out a breath as if to prime himself for what he was about to say next. 

  
“Yeah, of course I enjoyed it Timmy. What else can I say? It was hot and unexpected”

He heard the hint of a small snort at the other end of the line. _Was the little fucker laughing at him?_

But Timmy had decided that it was his turn to talk again.

  
“Look Armie... I think you’re working yourself up a little too much about this. You don’t need to worry, really”. 

_How??_

“It’s not like I’m gonna suddenly fall at your feet and say that because we had a dalliance in a VR world we’re now both gay and we’re gonna run off together”.

His words sent a frission down Armie’s spine. He tried desperately to ignore it.

“I mean, you’re married for fuck sake”. And I love Liz like she’s my own family”

Armie almost dropped the phone at Timmy’s little “reassurance” if that’s what it was meant to be. He had no words to respond.

It sounded very much like Tim was suggesting they just brush over the whole thing and make no deal out of it, as suspected. The illogical relief he felt knowing it wasn’t the regret thing washed over him and, acknowledging this, he rolled eyes at himself.   
_Get a grip Hammer!_

Ok fine, so Timmy wanted to equate it to just “playing a game” and say no more. He could do that too he supposed.   
What choice did he have? He didn’t want to make a mountain out of a molehill if that was the expression.  
He did have one last thing to say on the matter however.

“But what about the sensations Tim? They were pretty fucking intense, you can’t deny that”.

He paused before deciding that oversharing wasn’t the worst thing, not when he was talking to this non-stop chattering vat of confidence who constantly spews out anything and everything he’s thinking.

“I mean, I had to go jerk off afterwards for God sakes!” he laughed nervously.

He didn’t even feel embarrassed admitting it. He was a guy, and Purly was a chick with an incredible body.  
Ok so it wasn’t actually her that made him barrel his load in the end but Timmy doesn’t need to know that.   
_Time to shut that down_.

“Me too” replied Timmy, self-assured as ever.

 _Wait, what? Did he get himself off thinking of Elliot or him? Either way, they’re both guys_.

Armie wasn’t sure exactly what this revelation told him about Timmy and his sexual preferences.   
More than likely he was just overthinking as usual seeing as Timmy was your typical 23 year old with a high libido and would probably get the horn for anything put in his way. He’d even tried the peach thing for real before they filmed the scene. Even fruit doesn’t escape.

“Look Armie, don’t give yourself a hard time over it is all I’m saying. Look at me, I’m not fretting over it am I?”

Of course Armie couldn’t see him in the literal sense of the word but he understood where Timmy was coming from.

“And we can be careful not to cross that line again can’t we, now we know the dangers”.

He’d said the word “dangers” in the tone of air quotes and Armie couldn’t help but feel that he was being mocked again.

“Just fighting, no fucking. I promise”.

Armie almost laughed out loud at this and opted to take on the light-hearted tone of Timmy himself.

“Yeah but Purly is HOT, man” he joked. “What if I want to jump her bones the minute I set eyes on her again?”.

Sure he was saying it in jest but he was hoping that Timmy couldn’t detect how serious he was actually being.

His friend offered a solution.

“No worries, I’ll just come in as a different character. A male one. I’m assuming you won’t want to jump his bones!”

He was laughing now, freely and Armie smiled to himself at the sound.   
He felt relief that they’d seemed to pass through this little episode without too much awkwardness.

“Ok it’s a deal then, no more hot pink-haired chicks - or come to think of it any chicks at all”

“Yup deal” confirmed Timmy.

  
Their regular easy conversation gradually picked up again, with Timmy telling Armie that he was returning home the following evening. Taking the red-eye back to JFK as he felt it more acceptable drinking himself into a semi coma to settle his nerves when it was evening. Less judgement from crew and fellow passengers.  
  
Armie wished so much he could accompany him back to New York. It would be a such a small task to him but would mean so much to someone like Timmy.   
He hated the thought of him terrified up there at 30’000ft with no one to hold his hand when the turbulence hit... 

He thought back to when they were on the press tour together and wished he hadn’t been such a shit to him, mocking his fear of flying for his own amusement. What right did he have?

  
“...So after that, I should be heading to Paris for a quick break, then straight back to Budapest to wrap up”.

Armie had no clue what Timmy had been telling him for the last few minutes and silently admonished himself for not paying attention either.

“That sounds great Tim, you’re gonna be busy by the sounds of it”.

Armie knew how pathetic it sounded, such pointless cursory responses just to keep the conversation flowing.   
But he was however feeling a lot lighter and brighter about what happened between them. He trusted Timmy, he knew that. And if he said there was nothing to worry about then there was nothing to worry about.   
Water under the bridge as they say.  
The boys closed conversation by agreeing to meet online again tonight for a proper battle - man vs man.

  
After hanging up he noticed a text from Nick:

 _ **“Sorry I missed your call dude, was in the shower. CRAZY SHIT LAST NIGHT!”**   
_  
followed by a series of beer and dancing emojis and bizarrely a scuba mask.

 _How drunk had he been_? He’s pretty sure he can’t recall any crazy spontaneous pool games.   
Unless Nick was referring to diving in a different sense of the word completely...

Ugh God no, he didn’t want to know.

He pushed up from his lying position and swung his feet off the side of the bed. The carpet was still a bit damp but it wasn’t saturated anymore.   
He ambled to the bathroom to grab a hand towel and lay it down over the wet patch, pressing it down to absorb the remaining water whilst he went for his shower.

  
The shower brought Armie more comfort than he thought possible. He relished in the hot therapeutic water as it cascaded over him.  
Strangely his skin came alive to his touch when he started to soap himself up.   
In fact every nerve ending in his body became super sensitive. He’d never felt such an overwhelming sensuality within himself. Not that he was complaining. It felt good.   
  
Without thinking he took his cock into his shower gel covered hand and started to slide it along. Firstly to the tip then back again towards the shaft.   
It was slow and unhurried, rather than fast and frantic.   
He didn’t even feel like he wanted to take it anywhere, he was just enjoying the sensation. He tipped his head back into the path of the warm spray and closed his eyes. This was heaven.

An image of Timmy formed in his mind, Timmy standing naked under a hot shower with his head back, the water splashing down over his pale swan-like neck. A few curls stuck to his face but mostly swept back in slick wavy tresses dripping water down his back.

Armie thumbed over the slit in his cockhead and palmed over the end, still maintaining a gentle lazy pace.

He envisioned himself step into the shower to join Timmy, approach him from behind and wrap his considerably bigger arms around Timmy’s tiny waist, the contrast of their skin tones glaringly obvious, their bodies pressed firmly together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

Armie increased the pace of his strokes - not by much but enough to heighten the sensations.   
He knew he should probably put a stop to it but he concluded that he was hurting no one.

So what if he might have a little crush on his friend? It’s not like anything is going to happen.   
They’d continue being the friends they are, chatting shit and playing video games.   
It was Timmy’s fault anyway that he had these thoughts, he was the one who’d jumped on Armie and made moves on him like a strumpet.  
  
He released his cock which was standing to attention at a perfect right angle to the rest of him. _Shit_.

He guessed there was only one thing for it - besides knocking one out there and then, and knowing him he’d probably slip on it afterwards and break a leg or something.  
Reaching for the temperature gauge he braced himself and turned it fully to cold...

Towelling himself off he was grateful that he’d managed to pull that stunt without shrieking out loud.  
It was yet another small miracle and a blessing seeing as the kids were still asleep.  
And his cock was back pointing the way it should.

He wrapped a towel round his waist and sauntered into the bedroom to get dressed.

  
Once dressed he stopped by the kids’ room and popped his head round the door.  
Ford was gently snoring away so he walked over to where Harper was sleeping. She seemed to detect him though and rolled her head over opening her eyes slightly.

“Daddy? What time is it?”.

He placed a hand on her head.

“Shhh, don’t worry sweetheart. It’s about 1 but go back to sleep if you’re tired baby girl. I won’t let you miss Paw Patrol, I promise”.

He leaned down to place a kiss on his daughter’s head and she seemed content with this, rolling back onto her side and closing her eyes.

“Thank you Daddy”.

He got up and walked back towards the door. He glanced at a sleeping Ford and his heart swelled at the sight. If he didn’t get everything else in his life right, at least he got it right with his two angels.  
He slowly closed the door behind him and headed downstairs.

  
Seeing as he was feeling much better about, well, everything he stuck the radio on and threw himself into cleaning the place after last night. It didn’t take half as long as he thought it would.  
He rifled the fridge, freezer and cupboards, deciding he’d make dinner too.  
It seemed to ease any guilt he still felt. Which was ridiculous he knew, it’s not like he cheated on Liz or anything.  
It was a video game for God sakes. _Just a game_ , _Timmy said._  
He shook his head to rid himself of the thought and set about preparing dinner for later.

At half 5 when Liz walked in the house was spotless and Armie was resting on the couch with Mitzy curled up on his lap and Archie asleep at his feet. She looked exhausted but perked up at the smell of dinner and the sight of a clean house, with both kids washed and dressed watching cartoons. They both leapt up to throw themselves at her legs of course on her arrival, Spongebob momentarily forgotten.  
Armie pressed the remote to turn down the volume.

“Hey how’d it go? You get everything sorted?”

As it was Armie came to quickly regret asking such a question when Liz proceeded to launch into a full tell-all account of the latest developments with Bird, who’s doing what, who’s doing who in fact.  
Well not actually the last one but she might as well have for that’s how detached Armie was.  
It’s not like he wasn’t proud of her for building and maintaining the bakery business. He really was.  
It’s just that it was HER baby really, he didn’t have a lot of dealings with it and that’s how he liked it. He does his thing, she does hers. That’s how they’ve always done things.

His mind started to wander involuntarily. Firstly revisiting the moment Timmy walked into his party the day before, gift bag in hand, and more importantly Armie’s reaction to seeing him.  
  
Was it obvious to anyone? Was it obvious to Timmy?

The thought disarmed him. No way did he want to be outed by a reveller, gathered together with others to mark his 33rd year. Although the thought that Tim might have noticed didn't concern him half as much, and the possibility started to occur to him that he had and he’d used this new found information to his advantage when he invited him to play last night.  
  
Next his mind drifted off to the moment he had Purly pinned underneath him and she was shackling his jeans and underwear off. The moment that he became exposed to the world and her hands were quickly replaced by her mouth...

His cock responded at the memory. _Fuck_.

He swallowed and attempted to refocus his concentration on what his wife was telling him.  
The last thing he needed was getting a boner in the presence of Liz and the kids.  
Although he was thankful for Mitzy on his lap which would help conceal things. He imagined her little feline brain thinking “You sick, horny bastard - have you no control at all?”  
Thankfully this action seemed to work, and the urge subsided. Time for dinner he thought.

At around 8pm Liz announced she was going for a bath and then she’d read the kids their bedtime story before retreating herself. Apparently even though she’d felt alive and kicking this morning the tiredness had caught up with her throughout the afternoon.  
Armie couldn’t help but feel a slight hint of relief at this. Relief also that the kids weren’t bouncing around like hyperactive balls of energy as he’d expected. He’d had them outside with him earlier which probably helped. Harper seemingly enjoying her task of collecting paper cups scattered around the garden into a bin bag whilst Ford aimlessly kicked and chased a ball around.  
_  
Fresh air and exercise is the key - mental note stored._

Once she and the kids had headed upstairs Armie checked his phone. No message from Timmy yet and they hadn’t yet planned a time in to log on.   
Perhaps he should just text him. _No harm was there?_  
He scrolled to Timmy and typed out a message:

**_“Alright dude, what you up to? You good for that rematch?”_ **

He cringed at how that might have sounded but hoped that Timmy knew that it wasn’t intended like that.

It didn’t take long for a reply to ping through.

**_“Yeah sure, sounds good man. Just give me, like half hour and I’ll be all yours”_ **

A breath almost escaped Armie at that last bit and his stomach did a free dive.  
_Oh for fuck sake Hammer. Sort yourself out..._

The phone was still in his hand resting on the arm of the couch when the text came through.  
Armie leapt to his feet and quickly tapped out a reply:

**_“Cool, be with you in 5”_ **

He needed to quickly do something.  
  


He hotfooted it upstairs and stopped outside the kids room. He could hear Liz inside regaling them with tales of Peter Rabbit. He knocked gently. To his surprise the door opened after a beat and Liz slipped out closing the door behind her.

“They’re asleep already. What’s up?”

Armie felt opened up again, exposed. It wasn’t a nice feeling.   
He didn’t know why he felt the need but he placed his arms around her neck, resting them on her shoulders so there was still distance between them. 

“Nothing really... I just wanted to say that I’m going on the phone to Ash and I didn’t wanna keep you awake, you know what we can get like..”

_What the fuck, why was he lying about what he was doing?_

“I’ll close the lounge door and you should probably shut the bedroom one so you’ve got half a chance of getting to sleep”.

She just gave a small laugh and leant forward to give him a quick kiss.

“That’s fine. I’m so tired anyway I’ll probably be out by the time you get downstairs”

Armie felt like a prize shit but, still, there was somewhere he needed to be... 

  
Once back on the couch he took the pod from the box and attached it to himself. It latched on straight away and he felt like a pro. He got comfy and picked up his controller.

_3, 2, 1 CLICK..._

The haze descended down over him once again, a familiar feeling now and not an unpleasant one at that.

  
After a few seconds he opened his eyes and he was back in the place he recognised from last night.  
He looked down at himself, his attire. As expected everything was in its place.

 _Holy fuck,_ he didn’t think he’d ever get used to this mind-bending shit.

He looked up and instead of his pink-coiffed friend there stood a dark curly-haired figure, taller than his predecessor but not by much.  
Elliot recognised him as Isaac, a character he’d noticed last night whilst scrolling through the endless list.  
He was dressed similarly to himself, although his jeans were tighter, and he wore a metal-grey tank top with silver buckles on the shoulder.

Typical Timmy

“Groovy!” complimented Elliot, gesturing to his opponent’s outfit. “But what’s with the silverware dude?”

He couldn’t stop a laugh from escaping him.

Isaac looked at him with amusement.

“Whatever man. Take the piss all you like but you’re about the get your ass pummelled in spectacular fashion fuckface!”

  
Elliot just grinned at his friend’s bizarre little term of endearment and lifted his fists in front of him, readying for battle. This was gonna be a fight and a half.

“We’ll see, asshole!”

  
Isaac adopted the same pose and started to inch towards Elliot in a bouncing, intimidating manner, dropping back on his feet occasionally to test his opponent.  
Elliot mirrored this move himself inching towards the man and then retreating back.  
For some reason he couldn’t bring himself to strike out first. He’d let Isaac have that privilege and then they’d fight like real warriors.  
He noticed the other man move towards him again, an intense stare poring into him through his own eyes...

  
In a second they were attached to each other’s mouths, the hands of both men grasping tightly to the face of the other.  
It was frenzied and ravenous. Tongues and lips in a mess of hungry passionate heat.  
When Isaac started ravaging Elliot’s neck with his mouth, Elliot gave himself over to the feeling.

Nor did he retract when the other man dropped his hand and started to grope his straining bulge through his jeans.  
In fact he headed down there himself to help things along, unzipping his own fly and pushing his jeans and boxers fully down to his knees. 

Isaac grabbed Elliot’s firm and hardening manhood and began to pump it with a deliciously fast pace, soon recruiting his other hand to reach around and gently insert his fingers into the heaven between Elliot’s cheeks.  
Elliot almost self combusted at such an intimate contact but there was no way he was fighting against his want this time.  
He grabbed Isaac’s face and poured everything he had into a searing hot kiss, plunging his tongue so far into his mouth he thought he might lose it.  
  
He was building quickly with the rapid pace that Isaac was pumping his now rock hard cock and he had to make a split second decision to prevent it from being over before it began.  
He placed his hand on top of Isaac’s to indicate that he wanted him to let go for now and dropped to his knees.  
  
Elliot’s heartbeat was practically bursting out of his chest knowing that he was about to get exactly what he’d been craving for the last 24 hours. He grasped the waistband of Isaac’s tight pants and pulled them down in one swift move removing his underwear in the process.  
He looked up and made intense eye contact with the man for a few seconds before lowering his gaze and taking the erect organ deep into his mouth.  
The gasps that started to come from above went straight to his own cock and, spurned on by the thought of what he was doing to Timmy, he continued an eager and enthusiastic job bringing him to the brink more than once.

When he felt Isaac’s hands squeeze his shoulders and he raised his head to meet eyes he saw a look which told him exactly where this was going next. His stomach was doing somersaults.  
Isaac crouched down to level with Elliot’s face and met him with a deep, deliberate kiss before slowly pushing him backwards until he was lying down flat on the ground.  
Elliot felt his nerves building but it was mixed with a heady dose of something else. Anticipation. Excitement. Desire.

Isaac grabbed the ruched jeans from around Elliot’s knees and pulled them down fully to his ankles releasing one foot at a time. He crawled back up and took Elliot’s cock into his mouth once again, sucking and licking with unhinged enthusiasm. Elliot sat up slightly to remove his waistcoat and T-shirt - he knew that in this moment he wanted to feel the sensations everywhere. Every inch of his body open and willing for a high.   
He kept eye contact with Isaac as the man positioned himself between his thighs and lifted Elliot’s right leg over his shoulder, then his left. He felt completely exposed and vulnerable in this position but it also felt so right.

_This was it..._

He felt Isaac’s wet and ready cockend stroke against his entrance and prepared for the inevitable burn.  
After all, he’d never done this before. It was a first. He took a deep breath...

The burn never came. In its place, a heavenly sensation of absolute fullness and it was incredible.  
Like nothing he’d ever felt before.   
Elliot laced his fingers through the curls above him and grasped tightly as Isaac started to move.  
It felt fucking magical and it was hard for his brain not to short circuit as he was being taken up to the stars with every thrust.

His control went out of the window the minute Isaac started to speed up his movements.   
The point of no return consumed him within seconds and before he knew it his cock was spurting come everywhere like the goddamn Old Faithful, covering his chest and neck.   
The waves of his orgasm continued to ride through him as he felt the swell of Isaac’s release inside him and the satisfied cry and grunt that followed as the man collapsed down on top of him.

They lie like that for quite some minutes, Isaac resting on top of Elliot with his face in the crook of his neck, the breathing and heart rates of both gradually slowing down to normal.  
Eventually Isaac rolled over to lie on his back next to Elliot, grabbing his hand and lacing his fingers through the other man’s. Neither said a word.

Elliot was the first to speak, turning his head towards his friend.

“You know what Timmy...?” He hesitated. “I don’t think I can keep away from you in this way. In this world.  
It’s like, literally the best I’ve ever had in my life and that’s no lie. I’ve never felt anything like this before.”

He stopped for a second. He realised he was finally speaking his truth, the whole truth with no omission.

Isaac squeezed his hand and turned his body to face him, placing a hand on the side of his face. He looked in his eyes with sincerity.

“I feel the same way Armie. This is like nothing I’ve ever experienced either. It’s so hot, and unabashed, and... natural.

The words hit Elliot in the back of the throat and he had to force a swallow to keep an unwelcome choke from escaping.  
_  
So what now?_

“Listen...” Isaac began. “I don’t think we’re doing anything wrong are we?” It’s not like we’re physically doing stuff that constitutes as being unfaithful. It’s all in the mind” pointing to his head.  
  
“And being with you like this is like a drug that I can’t get enough of. I spent all day today just thinking about last night.  
And I tried to play it down when we spoke on the phone earlier cos the thought that you felt the same way scared me... But we’re not hurting anyone are we?” 

Elliot said nothing but continued to listen as he placed a hand on Isaac’s face and gently stroked his cheek back and forth with his thumb.

“I dunno about you Armie but... I’m not ready to stop just yet”. 

Elliot turned back and lay his head down to look at the sky, the floating clouds and the neverending blue expanse.  
Whatever conflicts and reservations he had going through his head, he knew for sure that he wasn’t done either.

Far from it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things don’t go the way Armie anticipated...  
> He talks to Nick, and there’s some huge changes coming his way...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very little hot A&T action in this chapter and a whole load of angst...  
> I’m really sorry but please stick with me as I promise it will get better after this... 😉

Monday evening had been a special kind of hell for Armie for two reasons.

One - he knew that Timmy was flying back to New York, or precisely 2800 miles away from him   
Two - the very fact he was taking this flight meant that there was no time for them to be together in their way that was, by his own admission, the only time he could feel completely true to himself now.

He’d gone to bed early that night, nothing gripping enough on TV to keep him from focusing on the emptiness inside his chest.  
Liz hadn’t been too worried he’d noted, she’d been busy strengthening her social media buzz in preparation for the next big cupcake launch or something. Whatever.

By midnight on Tuesday though things had improved massively - the pair reuniting and spending an intense and passion-fuelled ninety minutes making love on the beach, each of them topping the other in turn.  
Timmy’s choice of location.

Wednesday saw them cavorting in the woods where Elliot rimmed Isaac for the first time. He’d leant the man against a tree, bent him over slightly, and pleasured him all the way through with his tongue. And he’d shot his load spectacularly all over the trunk.   
Classy.

Armie had started to FEEL again.

Thursday was lovely, they’d slowed things down considerably and had spent a lot more time giving pleasure with only their mouths. Sucking one another off as the finale to the licking and massaging of each other’s bodies.  
Of course they still made time for Isaac to sit across Elliot’s lap and ride his cock like a stallion, painting them both with his never-ending release when it erupted.

Each day there was a text exchanged, advising the most appropriate time for their next rendezvous.

It felt like an affair but it also didn’t. Armie knew it wasn’t a problem because it was only in his head, Timmy had confirmed this.

He’d also not neglected his husband and daddy duties, making the dinner every night and throwing empty compliments to his wife on her choice of outfit or new bakery idea. She wouldn’t have noticed the insincerity of his words anyway.

Reading the kids their bedtime story so Liz could relax in the bath became his thing. It had opened his eyes to how truly special these moments were whilst his children were still small.  
The story sessions becoming his only beautiful distraction from the pining for his next fix.

It really was just like a drug as Timmy had said. But far stronger than anything he’d dabbled in in his younger years.

He realised, with relief, that Liz had not attempted to become intimate with him for weeks now.  
Because he genuinely doesn’t know what he would have done if she had.

Yes of course he does, he’s an actor for a living...

A couple of wonderful weeks passed with he and Timmy meeting up almost every night, usually after midnight when the rest of the gang were asleep.

They hadn’t always ended up fucking, some nights they’d just lie together, fingers entwined, talking honestly, openly.  
Like they’d never really done before which was ludicrous they both agreed.   
Those times had consisted of languid kisses and laid-back caresses. And it was perfect...  
  
Timmy still insistent that what they were doing wasn’t unorthodox in any way, and harmful to anyone.  
And Armie became relaxed and accepting of this principle. His smart Timmy was always right.

  
Other nights, however, their sex sessions were the off the scale. The stuff of the most explicit novels out there.

One night Elliot had plunged his tongue far inside Purly’s front without warning. It was incredible.  
He wasn’t sure exactly where Timmy was feeling the sensation but he knew he was feeling it going on the breathless and desperate moan that was coming from above.  
She’d pulled him up to meet her lips in response and they’d remained there exploring each other’s mouths whilst she rubbed him off to completion, spilling his come all over her stomach.

Armie never once felt that he wanted to become someone else in their world, you know, a different character.   
Although Timmy had broached the subject. He just related to Elliot in some way.

That’s not to say that he didn’t enjoy being surprised by who would be greeting him each night.  
Isaac and Purly were as hot and as kinky as each other - well of course they were, and the concept of being able to mix things up is what kept Elliot as hard as nails from the minute he set foot into the arena.

Their rapacious desire for one another never waned.

Which was why Armie was stunned a week or so later when his daily text to Timmy was read and not responded to.  
He sent another after an hour which was also read. Again he never received one back.

_What the fuck?_

The hollow in the pit of his stomach grew larger and he felt that his chest was being crushed by it. He began to feel nauseous and dizzy. Headed quickly to the bathroom even as he panicked he was about to throw up with no warning.

He didn’t. But he did have to clutch a hand against the wall to prevent himself from keeling over on to the floor.

That wasn’t a normal response he knew but, more importantly, what on Earth had happened to make Timmy wobble?

He tried to exercise logic and reason, supposing that perhaps Timmy was in a position for one reason or another where he _couldn’t_ respond.   
Yes that’s the theory he was sticking with and it seemed to settle his mind somewhat.

  
The text came through not quite 30 minutes later:

  
_**“I’m sorry Armie but it’s gotta stop. It’s wrong, all of it”.** _

Armie surprised himself by how calm he remained as he read the text over and over, as if he was looking in from the outside watching the man inside mentally fall to pieces.

Of course it was wrong, he’d established this himself weeks ago. But he’d been convinced by another that it was perfectly natural and _RIGHT_.  
Just a game Timmy had said. Well they were beyond that point of course. 

But “we’re not hurting anyone are we?” he’d insisted.

Armie had declared it wrong himself, right back on the night of his party.  
He knew when he watched his sleeping wife that the whole thing was faithless, disloyal and downright unacceptable yet Timmy had sweet talked him down from his moral high ground and kept him at that level.  
So WHAT THE FUCK WAS HE DOING GETTING A CONSCIENCE ON HIM NOW??

Armie wanted to know, he wanted to text back and ask “ _why now?”_

He didn’t. He simply responded with the only thing he could summon the strength to type:

  
**“ _Fine”_**

Then swiftly went to retrieve his bottle of Jack that had remained untouched for the last three weeks.

He made advances on his wife that night. He needed to feel something, anything to override the excruciating feeling of nothingness that was consuming him.  
Unfortunately for him Aphrodite was not working his corner on this occasion. He apologised to Liz over and over when he couldn’t get it up, and then embarrassed himself further by crying in her arms and blaming the whole sorry episode on the finished bottle of liquor.   
He fell into a deep slumber soon after - the only advantage of drinking himself into a state.

  
The next morning when he awoke, groggy but still alive, he made a deal with himself.  
Today was a new day and he was going to be thankful for everything that was good in his life.  
He even started constructing in his head a sensible, adult response to Timmy acknowledging his point and thanking him for all the good times they’d shared and that he’d treasure them all etc etc, but agreeing that it had to end sometime.

A text from Tyler was on his phone when he unlocked it, waiting to be read.

**_“Well well well, what’s Timmy T been up to eh?”_ **

He clicked on the link that Tyler had sent and stared at the pap pic and the accompanying headline:

**IS LOVE’S YOUNG DREAM BACK ON AS TIMOTHÉE AND LILY-ROSE ARE SPOTTED HOLDING HANDS IN BROOKLYN** **?**

  
He read the headline again, and again, and a hundred times after that before he felt an urgent and unwelcome sensation in his gut.  
He leapt up and ran to the bathroom reaching it only a second before he vomited right into the basin. There was no let up after that, the entirety of the half a bottle of JD he’d consumed reappearing within minutes as he clutched the sides of the sink.  
  
He used both taps to rinse away the evidence of his over-indulgence and slid onto the bathroom floor, firstly on all fours, and then turning to rest his back against the cool tiles and pulling his knees into his chest.

His head was now pounding and his ribs were smarting after all the hurling, and in turn the tears came.  
  
Pure, shameless, raw physical emotion pouring out of him. 

He was, in the blink of an eye, an absolute mess and a world away from that optimistic chap who’d not long woken up.  
He was pathetic he knew and yet it was beyond his control.

Somehow he dragged his sorry ass back to bed and hid away for a few more hours in his sanctuary under the duvet.  
Luckily for him Liz had taken the kids out for the day to visit friends of theirs so he had no one to explain his wallowing self-pity to.

He didn’t know how he got through the next couple of days but he did manage it because on day three he plucked up the courage to text Timmy, congratulating him on his new relationship.  
  
Cos that’s what friends do right?

He was merely existing at this point, not feeling, and so he was able to go through the motions of what he felt he should be saying and doing.

_**“Thanks man”**_ came the reply back.

_  
Right. As vague and as non fucking commital as ever Tim._

  
He was almost tempted to respond and ask if she gave head as good as him, or made him writhe around with pleasure underneath her before shooting his semen so far it ended up in his own hair.  
But he knew there was no point. He was on a hiding to nothing, and had nothing to give.

He chose to speak a part truth instead. Feeling mischievous, he started to type.

_**“It’s just a shame there’s no time for us to... do stuff anymore. Cos I miss it Tim and I know you do too...”** _

adding an eggplant, a peach and a water droplet emoji to the end.

  
There he’d said it and it was clear as daylight what he’d meant.

  
However doubt started to creep in before long and the extent of what he’d done began to dawn on him.

  
What if this somehow got out? Like, what if this text to Timmy was seen by someone else and really fucking got out?  
He might as well wave goodbye to his career now. Not to mention his wife and kids.  
 _His credibility..._

Actually he knew that some fans out there would go freaking wild at the turn of events, people were crazy about about him and Timmy for some reason. But that was besides the point.

It was, therefore, a surprise to get a reply back from Timmy so quickly.

_**“I do Armie... I do miss it. But you know it’s not right”** _

  
_Yeah so you keep saying Timmy. It wasn’t right when you were happily fucking a married man was it but now on your terms its NOT RIGHT..._

Armie didn’t bother to respond. He was done with Timmy’s game playing.  
It saddened him more than he cared to admit that it had come to this - he and Timmy were so close once, long before the virtual reality intervention. Like brothers but with an even deeper connection.  
He remembered all those days promoting their movie together, being the left to each other’s right.  
Everyone wanted a piece of them.

And the incredible days and nights spent in Crema during filming, getting to know every inch of one another’s being.

He realised with an agonising sense of regret that the best friendship he’d ever had in his life had been point blank destroyed most likely by lust, one the the seven deadly sins. It sure was a fucker.

Although he was careful to not start sounding too much like his religious freak mother.

As more days passed, more paparazzi evidence surfaced to taunt him.  
Which meant Timmy never strayed far from Armie’s thoughts. He was always there occupying his waking hours and keeping him from his sleep at night.   
And it was literally impossible to stay mad at him no matter how hard he tried.

  
He did at one point hit upon the possibility that it might not actually be Timmy as such that he was missing but the freedom to be the person he discovered hidden within when in his own little world.  
So he attempted to make friends through the online game portal.  
Maybe there were others out there who were feeling a little lonely of late, he thought. Not lonely as in physical isolation but alone within their true existences.

He did meet a few people who wanted to play with him as it was. And one who was looking for the same as him...

He gave himself over to Jason, the blonde with the neatly trimmed goatee and eyebrow ring. He allowed him full control, let himself be used for the man’s pleasure.   
He realised that the poor guy may well have been dropped by his usual playmate too, he sympathised and understood that sentiment for sure.   
He tried, he really did, but for him there was no such pleasure to speak of. He lie on his back with his legs wrapped around the other man feigning enjoyment and desire until the man cried out Elliot’s name and pumped him full of his contents.

He wouldn’t say it made him miserable by any means - he still managed to successfully get himself off afterwards for the couple of times it happened.  
But it was almost like a non-event. Not worth mentioning.

_Like he’d tell anyone anyway._

Put plainly, it was nothing like with Purly or Isaac.

He also realised he needed to become more attentive to Liz. She was his wife after all, how unforgivable he’d been.  
And perhaps Timmy putting the brakes on was the kick up the ass he needed to realise that he’d been neglecting her, particularly in the last month or so.

So he started putting more effort in. Romantic gestures like random flowers, breakfasts in bed and running her a hot bubble bath after a long and busy day.  
All accepted with appreciation and thanks.

But there was still one aspect that he couldn’t improve on, and it was a rather crucial one...

Liz went to bed early more often than not and he’d pop his head round the door after an hour or two only to find her engrossed in a book or watching something trashy on her tablet.  
Not tired then, and more concerning, clearly not interested in connecting with him on an intimate or emotional level.

He ended up releasing his sexual frustrations in the same way most nights, safely locked away in the bathroom.

One Saturday about a month after Armie had last spoken to Timmy, apart from the occasional cursory “how’s it going?” text, he received a call from Nick.

“Let’s go out” he’d said “Tonight man. I need a proper drink!”

Armie didn't need to be asked twice

When he’d arrived the man took one look at him and demanded that he go grab himself a pint of vodka and come and tell Niki what the fuck had happened to him.

_Shit was it that obvious?_

He didn’t know where to start.

On one hand he wanted to tell someone so badly. And that someone might as well be one of his closest and most dependable friends.  
He trusted Nick with his life and he’d keep anything he was told safely under wraps.

But on the other hand it was just too huge, too complicated to burden anyone else with.

  
Before he had a chance to even say a word, his friend spoke up first. What he said almost winded Armie instantly.

“As long as you’re not having an affair man, I’m here for you”

_Shit and Fuck, was his face about to betray him?_

Then Nick said with a laugh but who knows how serious he was being:

“Unless it’s with Timmy then that’s ok obviously!”

_What?? What!? What the FUCKITY FUCK does that mean Niki?_

His friend had a glint in his eye.  
Armie had always found him attractive and if he hadn’t been such a long standing confidante of his most of his adult life he might have made moves on someone like him. It’d definitely crossed his mind before.

  
“Look I don’t know what’s going on with you Armie but whatever it is you just need to talk to the people involved”.   
His features softened towards his friend.

“Remember a problem shared is a problem quartered, depending on how many you share it with” he continued with a cheeky grin and a raised eyebrow.

  
Armie snorted at this.

Smug asshole, he thought. Niki always had the ability to lighten the mood somehow.

  
But he’d always believed this theory about sharing was a load of bullshit.  
He couldn’t share this, not with anyone other than Timmy himself.

He compromised by spilling to Nick about the lack of sex and intimacy between him and Liz instead.   
His friend helpfully suggested porn, and then role play - both options in which Armie half-heartedly and playfully told him to grow the fuck up and give him a sensible answer for once.

It really did him good to hang out with Nick, their conversation swaying effortlessly from the downright stupid to the serious and back again.  
There were no subjects off limits for them except, well...

Inevitably Nick decided to bring up the Timmy thing again much to Armie’s chagrin. And once again Armie tried to play it down.

  
“What was people’s fascination with him and Timmy?” he’d asked.

Sure he knew they sizzled on screen together, his wife had even told him that their performance had got her hot under the collar. And fans had told him that it was the best pairing they’d ever seen him be a part of.  
Did they see something between them that he wasn’t a hundred percent of himself even? The thought unnerved him slightly.

  
Nick just looked incredulous and replied as if stating something truly obvious to everyone:

“Because visually you two look stunning together. Like seriously, hot as fuck. People love that kind of thing, it feeds their fantasies”.

“Plus” he added “You are two of the kindest people I’ve ever known and I know that you built something special a few years ago. Sexual or non sexual, you can see it in both of your eyes when you talk to one another.  
It’s really quite lovely”

Armie couldn’t help the feeling of warmth spreading through him at Nick’s words.

He did wonder how much or how little respect his friend must have for Liz if he could gush about him and Timmy like she didn’t exist. But that’s the thing with Nick, he always spoke out on things others might shy away from.

Ok so what if, hypothetically, he was to discover that he’d developed stronger than normal feelings for their friend, he posed.  
It genuinely was hypothetical seeing as Timmy was again loved up with Lily-Rose and he was, oh yeah, still married.

Nick shrugged and simply stated that as long as he was completely open and honest with Liz and kept their business out of the public domain for as long as possible to preserve her dignity then he certainly wouldn’t have a problem with it. And neither would any of their other friends as far as he could see.  
The majority of the fans definitely wouldn’t have a problem, he joked.

Armie smiled at the reassurance he felt that Nick really did have the love and respect for his wife and mother of his children after all. Liz deserved all the respect and dignity in the world.  
Nothing was going to come of it though. Timmy had moved on to new things hadn’t he?   
Armie had just wanted to test the water there.

Nothing more was spoken about it that night. So many other things to catch up on. 

Nick confessed to Armie that he actually did have sex with the party planner in the guest bedroom at the party. Twice.  
But he hadn’t heard from her since and he wasn’t about to lose any sleep over it.

Armie realised that it was the first time he’d really laughed since Timmy’s exit text. God bless Niki.

Two weeks passed and when Armie came downstairs on the Sunday morning, Liz was sitting at one end of the dining table. She’d moved another of the chairs to her end just around the corner and there were 2 steaming mugs of coffee sitting close together on the table.  
He walked up to her, leant down and kissed her cheek - their usual, comfortable and well practised routine.

She asked him to sit.

“What was up?” he asked.He’d noticed she’d been particularly quiet the last couple of days.

  
She took his hand. His eyes followed the movement before he looked up to find her looking at him with sincerity and tenderness.  
She gave a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“It’s not right is it Armie? Us?”

_What??_

He felt his breath hitch.

  
“Not for a while now” she continued.

  
He just stared and listened.

  
“You’ve gotta be honest Armz, look at us...   
We hardly converse unless it’s about the kids. It doesn’t seem to bother either of us that we behave more like friends than a married couple. We don’t spend anytime together unless it’s with the kids. We haven’t had sex in months...   
You must have noticed that I head off to bed to read or watch TV most nights. And I’ve noticed you spending a lot of time playing that video game.”

Armie’s stomach flipped, anxious of what she was going to say next.

  
“The thing is... it doesn’t bother me Armie. And that’s when you know a marriage has run it’s course. No one is to blame any more than the other”

She gripped his hand with both now and slid her fingers through his.

“I really think we need to be honest and fair to ourselves now - for the kids’ sakes and ours”.

His head went into a spin.

Was Liz actually calling time on their marriage of 9 years?

  
An entire spectrum of emotions ran through him like a high speed train hurtling through a tunnel.

In a way he agreed with everything she’d just said. His main feeling, strangely, was not one of sadness or shock, but of admiration and respect for the brave woman sitting in front of him.   
She’d spoken out when she felt there was something that needed to be said. For both of their sakes. That wasn’t something to be sniffed at.  
But the prospect terrified him.

He found strength to respond and grabbed their entwined hands with his remaining one.

“But I don’t wanna lose what we’ve got Liz.... I do love you, and the kids obviously are the most important thing in the world to me...”

Liz just placed a hand on the back of his neck and brought their foreheads together so they were touching.

“Armie you can’t lose what you don’t already have. The spark has been gone for a while hasn’t it? Be honest”

He slowly nodded but unwelcome tears started to prickle his eyes. He tried to blink them away but they tipped over onto his cheeks before he could stop them.

Liz took his face into her hands.

  
“Armie you’re never gonna lose me ok? Never in a million years.   
We’ve got the two most beautiful children in the world and nothing in this universe is going to take us away from them and stop us being the most loving, devoted parents to them”.

Life sure is weird, it occurred to Armie that night. He was seesawing between the sweet relief of a weight lifted and the hopelessness of matrimonial failure. But it was definitely the former that took the biggest slice.

He looked over at Liz sleeping soundly beside him, they had no issue continuing to sleep in the same bed, as it was a given that neither would try anything, not now.

They’d talked more that evening than they had in months, possibly years.

They still needed to talk to the children, sure, but he knew that with Liz by his side as his parental partner the kids would come through it just fine. They were still a team and that would never change.

His prediction was right. When they sat Harper and Ford down a couple of days later to explain what was going to happen, Armie was on tenterhooks and he’d already chewed most of his nails down to the bed.  
He needn’t have worried. After munching on a monster cookie that Liz had made a batch of, just in case of tears, Harper simply asked if Daddy would still be able to read her a bedtime story every night.

Armie and Liz exchanged a look. 

“Well” Liz began “Mummy and Daddy will both read you a bedtime story on different nights of the week, how about that?”

“And” Armie interjected “What if I tell you that you can stay in a different bedroom when I read you your stories? And you can decorate it any way you want”.

The little girl smiled at him and her eyes lit up

“Can I have unicorns on the wall Daddy?”

Armie started to well up at his daughter’s beautiful innocence.

“Yes of course baby girl, you can have all the unicorns you want”

The adults both looked at Ford. He was too young to really understand but they knew he was already so smart that he would easily accept the change.

Armie’s heart was bursting at the seams with the love he felt for his two angels and he knew that whatever happens, he’d always have them in his life and that was more than he could ever wish for.

By the end of that week Armie had found a small house to rent nearby, just 2 bedrooms. It was all he needed for himself and the kids. It had a nice sized garden for the kids to play and for him to crack out the barbecue when he fancied.  
He’d definitely have the guys over before long.   
He wished so much that that would include Timmy but they hadn’t spoken properly in almost two months. That road had withered to a barely there dirt track.

He hadn’t even told Timmy about him and Liz. There were only a few people who knew - Tyler and Jacqueline, Ash and Nick pretty much. He hadn’t even told his mom and dad.

One night after a few beers when Armie was feeling that familiar sense of isolation, home all by himself, he picked up his phone and typed out a message to Timmy. Nothing to lose as far as he was concerned.

**_“Hey buddy, hows it going? Missing my Timmy T. Wanna catch up sometime?”_ **

It would either be received positively, or the recipient would roll his eyes and text back telling him to fuck off.

Or just ignore it completely, which Armie realised would probably destroy him more than any of the other actions.

His heart nearly skipped a beat when his phone buzzed soon afterwards.

_Timmy..._

Nope just a message from Ashton saying he’d drop off garden tools tomorrow.

 _  
Fuck_.

Timmy’s reply was waiting for him when he woke up the next morning.

**_“Hiya Armz. Missing you too man. Badly... It’s been too long”_ **

Hope bloomed in Armie’s chest.  
He could just tell Timmy couldn’t he? About his marriage ending. And how he hasn’t stopped thinking about him since they last lie together on the sun lounger in the Hawaii location.

He decided to just ask him how Lily-Rose was instead, chewing on his bottom lip as he typed.

This time though no reply came. And Armie could see that it’d been read.

His mind went into overdrive

_Did that mean...?_

He stopped and thought of how admiring he was of Liz for taking the initiative a few weeks ago, speaking out when she realised something needed addressing. And yeah she’d taken a gamble as far as Armie was concerned - she’d had no idea of how he was going to react. She just knew that it needed to be said and it couldn’t be left.

What was he so afraid of as far as Timmy was concerned? Tim had been the one to teach him, in a way, to speak out freely regardless of the consequences. Life sure was too short for this pussyfooting around. It was like a fog had lifted from his field of vision.

He quickly logged onto United’s website. Booked a ticket for 2.30 this afternoon.

LAX to JFK


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New York awaits...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the long wait for this chapter.
> 
> Long story short - we lost my father-in-law last month.  
> He was elderly with severe dementia so a happy release but soooo much stuff to sort out in the aftermath as you can imagine...
> 
> Anyway here’s the final chapter of the boys’ journey.  
> I hope you enjoy it  
> (Don’t read if you don’t like ha.... Oh ok no spoilers then! 😉🤫)
> 
> *Disclaimer* I’ve never been to New York before and I know nothing about locations, distances etc. My research extends as far as King Google. So apologies for any inaccuracies!

Armie dropped his holdall to the ground the minute he walked through the door of his hotel room.

He’d opted to stay in Midtown Manhattan seeing as he knew Timmy was familiar with the area.  
Nothing too fancy, just a room at the Crowne Plaza on 36th.

He eyed up the double divan through the bedroom doorway and the temptation to crash down and immerse himself in the comfort of peaceful slumber almost took over.  
It’s not that he wasn’t a seasoned flyer or anything, and 5 hours in the air was nothing. It’s just all the faffing and waiting around that comes with such a journey, it catches up with you.  
Instead he bent down to remove his Nikes and made for the couch slash sofa bed, reaching for the television remote as he sat down.

Armie registered the time on the corner of the screen when the device came to life - it was just after 11.30 and he was truly exhausted.  
Maybe he’d get some much needed sleep and wake up refreshed to plan his next move.  
He lie his head back against the top of the couch and let his eyelids, heavy with tiredness, flutter shut.  
  
Images of one person flooded his mind - Timmy at his birthday party excitedly handing Armie his gift, Timmy waving to fans at the Oscars, Timmy lying naked next to him trying to keep a straight face as they attempted to film a somewhat serious scene...

Not a chance was he going to fall asleep at this rate.

He heaved himself forward to stand and made for his holdall still sitting by the front door.  
He retrieved the bottle of Havana Club he’d bought at the airport and eyeballed the console lying underneath it.  
He was gonna need that as a part of his master plan but for tonight he was just going to indulge in a little Cuban magic before bed.  
  
He’d been back on the couch with his nightcap in hand for just a few minutes when his phone vibrated and the screen lit up with Timmy’s name.

**_  
“Ugh, that was kind of a non starter. Ask me another!”_ **

**_  
_**Armie frowned at the screen.

_That’s random Tim._

He thought perhaps the text wasn’t meant for him which gave him the tiniest hint of depression before he pulled himself together.

_How odd?_

It took no more than a nanosecond for the realisation to hit. He’d never received a reply to his text about Lily-Rose earlier this morning. Til now...

He stared at the phone in his hand reading Timmy’s message over and over again, scrolling back to check he hadn’t missed one.

So they were no more then, he guessed?  
A part of him suddenly felt concern that his Timmy may have gotten hurt in the process, he felt a certain unspoken need to try protect Tim from the pain of life and love tribulations despite knowing full well that he could look after himself.  
But a second text buzzed through soon after.

**_“Anyways, hows you and Liz? And the kids?”_ **   
  


Armie almost dropped the phone in response.

_Fuck._

Should he reply telling him that he’s about 3 weeks post marriage breakup and he’s living separately to Liz and the kids.  
Oh and by the way he’s also in New York right now?

Armie contemplated this and decided that he was definitely at risk of overwhelming Timmy if he were to just suddenly unload all this information on to him.  
His tiredness had unsurprisingly subsided by this point, and seizing an opportunity, he typed out a reply before he had a chance to change his mind.

**_  
“So sorry to hear that Tim...”  
_ **

  
He pondered whether he should continue or whether it was taking too much of a risk. But, in the end, the “what the hell?” factor won out.

**_  
“Fancy a game of Striking Vipers to take your mind off of it? Just fighting, no fucking LOL! I didn’t forget, don’t worry!”  
_** followed by three wide smile emojis.

He’d deliberately omitted to acknowledge Timmy’s enquiry as he himself had done that morning.

There was no response for several minutes and Armie began to berate himself for pushing his luck too quickly.  
He knew he’d gone and scared Timmy off with his fucking hastiness.

Six long minutes rolled by... seven...

That was it then. He’d fucked that up already, good and proper.

He stood to go and pour himself a refill when his phone buzzed and lit up.

**_  
“Hell yeah Armie, up for it if you are!”._**...HEART EYED EMOJI

Armie’s heart leapt up and down at the very fact Timmy had spoken to him directly by using his name and not some vocative like “dude” or “buddy” - not to mention his little addition at the end of the text.  
Though he tried not to focus too much on that.  
He tapped out a quick reply.

**_  
“Alright! Let’s do this! See you in 5”_ **

With that he put his empty glass down, abandoning his plan for a top up, and set about connecting his console up to the TV...

* * *

  
The next morning, when Armie was woken by the sun streaming through the small gap between the curtains he’d failed to close properly, the memories of the previous night flooded him in an instant.  
Although it wasn’t the worst feeling...

They’d met up as their aliases in Hawaii, which was the last place they’d been together, and had indeed fought only just as Armie had promised.  
It was actually quite liberating to let loose and release his worries and tensions of the last couple of months by beating the crap out of his opponent.  
  
Not that Isaac hadn’t given it back as good as he received.  
Armie unconsciously lifted a hand to his face where Isaac had repeatedly punched and kicked Elliot in retaliation for being lifted up, thrown over the other man’s shoulder and slammed into the ground.  
It was vicious and violent.

_And everything Armie had needed._

Of course a big part of his strength had come from having to suppress the unyielding desire he was harbouring for his opponent throughout.  
  
At various points he was certain he could detect that look in Isaac’s eyes that signalled he was feeling the same things.  
But neither let on nor gave in.  
  
They’d hugged out their inflictions on one another when Armie was the first to suggest calling it a night.  
It was more exhausting than he realised, having to keep his libido in check every time his opponent came near him.  
  
So, yes, for the first time ever they’d had a completely kink-free fighting match.  
And despite his sexual frustrations, which he’d inevitably dealt with after exiting the game, Armie had got the assurance he needed that he and Tim were at least back on track as far as their friendship went.

  
He procrastinated by scrolling through Twitter and Instagram for a good hour, then made the move to get showered and shaved.

It was during said ablutions that Armie heard his phone beep again signalling an incoming text.  
He leapt free of the warm spray and paraded naked across the bedroom leaving a trail of dripping water in his wake to see if it was from Timmy.  
It was, and what he read made Armie freeze despite having been stood under a steaming hot shower moments earlier.

**_“So nice to catch up last night man, it’s been too long. Tell you the truth though, I didn’t half miss the other stuff we did before”_ **

which he’d followed with a winking emoji.

  
Ok, two initial thoughts came to Armie.

He was back to “man” again, or “buddy” or whatever Timmy felt like addressing him as today. But was it really that big a deal? It was SO Timmy after all.  
Secondly... why the fuck was he concerned by how Timmy was greeting him when an even huger revelation had just come up.

_Timmy has missed it? He’s MISSED IT!_

So why the need to tell him now?  
Was it just because they’d gotten close again playing the game together after a couple of months break? Or was he feeling dejected and down about his relationship going sour, and he knew that Armie was a sure thing in offering him a bit of excitement, in the guise of Elliot?

Armie frowned at the phone.  
  
On one hand he wouldn’t have to be asked twice to jump straight into the game and ravage Isaac in an instant.  
But if Timmy was just using him to pick up the pieces of his battered ego... well he wasn’t really sure how he felt about that.

He dumped the phone down on his bed and returned to his shower.

Under the comforting cascade he struggled to articulate what to reply to Timmy.  
How could it be that just a short while ago he was feeling confident that their friendship was safe and unscathed, and yet now he couldn’t fathom a single way to respond to a text from him?  
It was hard bloody work being Tim’s friend he realised though it wasn’t always like that. He longed for the time when their relationship was easy-going and relaxed, and sometimes a little spontaneous and flirty.  
  
He considered not even touching on the subject matter of Timmy’s text, an idea which dissolved when he realised how embarrassed Timmy would be left having voiced it in the first place.  
That was a brave move on Timmy’s part. No way was he going to be that much of a shit to him.

Once he’d dried off he wrapped the towel around his waist and sauntered over to his bed.  
There was another text showing on the screen when he unlocked it. It was only from Ashton though saying that he’d left garden tools with Eddie and Carol next door. Bless him.

Funny, he’d not heard that text come through.

He scrolled to Timmy’s message and hit reply, then took a deep breath.  
It was a now or never situation he realised.

_**“Hey Tim, yep I miss it too... Maybe we can do it again it sometime...”**_ adding a winking emoji to add a touch of ambiguity.

He shook his head and groaned inwardly at how dismissive that sounded but continued to type.

**_  
“Anyway, surprise, I’m in New York at the moment”_ **

He hit send.

Armie waited... Message Delivered. Then after a beat, Message Read.  
  
His heart was beating wildly in his chest by this point.  
The device started vibrating in his hand and Timmy’s name flashed up on the screen.  
His heart rate increased even more.

He swallowed hard and swiped his finger across it to accept the call and was straight away hit by that excitable ball of energy that he knew only too well.

  
“Armiieeee! What are doing on my territory eh? Not that I’m complaining!” Hows it going man?”

  
Shit, what the fuck was he meant to say? He really should have thought this through.

  
“Ohh umm, it’s really just cos I had a few days free and Liz has gone with the kids to visit her parents. They’re staying for a few days so I thought seeing as you came to LA for my birthday I’d come and see you”.

Armie felt like the biggest freaking fraud and he was sure that his voice was going to betray him.  
But he didn’t know what else to say. He didn’t really know himself exactly why he was here and what he was going to do.

_Well he knew why he was here..._

Timmy interrupted his train of thought though.

  
“We’re so having dinner and drinks tonight. As long as you know it’s gonna be pizza of course!”

  
Armie smiled to himself at the beautiful sound of the voice at the other end of the line. Timmy really was one of the most enthusiastic people he knew with such an admirable zest for life.

  
“Where are you staying man? Like what neighbourhood?” Timmy enquired.

  
Armie told him and Timmy suggested Carmine’s on W44th, a favourite of his and conveniently situated between the two of them.

  
“Shall we say 7?” planned Timmy.

  
Armie was silently stunned by the speed of progress being made here.

  
“7 sounds great, look forward to it Tim”.

* * *

  
By 5pm Armie was a walking nervous wreck.  
  
He’d already taken his third shower of the day and had the small selection of clothes he’d stuffed in his holdall laid out on the bed in front of him.  
He was glad he’d had the foresight to pack something a bit smarter than his usual tracksuit and Birkenstocks.

He opted for his black 501’s which Nick had once told him made his ass look amazing after they’d had a few too many vodka and Red Bulls, teamed with a white short sleeved button up shirt.  
He’d packed aftershave too and as he sprayed it and styled his hair with a little gel he realised how much this felt like he was preparing for a date.  
Which was ridiculous, he was only going out for a bite to eat with his friend after all. But nothing could settle the ball of nerves in his stomach.  
He indulged in a rum and coke for Dutch courage before heading out around 6 to give himself plenty of time so as not to be late for Timmy.  
  
It was startling, even now, how this guy had managed to get under his skin big time.

  
Inside Carmine’s Armie sat at the bar as he knew he was early and didn’t want to push it by asking if their table was free yet. He started to relax at the sounds and smells of a bustling Italian restaurant and was soon transported back to Crema when Luca was taking he and Timmy to all his favourite haunts. He’d guessed they were probably all related or closely affiliated with Luca to be honest.  
It was truly one of the most magical and soulful experiences he’d ever had in his life and that little knot in his gut tightened and released a shot of euphoric endorphins as he contemplated being able to do it all again if they go ahead with the sequel.

  
He had travelled so far into his little fantasy that he hadn’t noticed the appearance of the beautiful specimen approaching him.

A breath hitched in his throat.  
  
He looked stunning in a black button up and blue jeans wearing a huge all-teeth smile.

  
“Hey man, so good to see you” Timmy gushed as he opened his arms wide to envelope Armie in all encompassing bear hug.

Armie stood and reciprocated the greeting.

“I’ve spoken to Giuseppe and our table is ready now if you wanna sit?” 

  
Armie just nodded and gestured for Timmy to lead the way.

  
Easy conversation flowed between courses for the next hour or so, subjects ranging from their filming schedules to what the families of each had been up.  
When Armie told him about he and Liz splitting up, his friend was shocked initially, then understandably upset but he offered him a hopeful hand across the table. Actually he took Armie’s entire hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly.  
At which point Armie looked around to see if anyone had seen - if that got papped they would have a whole new situation to deal with tomorrow.  
But Timmy appeared not to give a shit in the slightest.

  
“We’re good friends, people just need to deal with it” he’d said when Armie had voiced his concern.

_Fair enough_.

Armie had asked what was the deal with Lily-Rose and Timmy just gave him a look of incredulity.

  
“As if you need to ask Armie, jeez. “The King” was being released at the time, you know how the game works...”

  
The relief he felt learning that there weren’t genuine feelings involved was ridiculous.  
But he knew he still needed to address that elephant in the room that they’d diverted from all evening.  
He paused for a few seconds to gather his words and nervously fingered the neck of his wine glass, twirling it gently between his digits.  
He continued looking down at his glass as opposed to making eye contact as it would create an air of seriousness which he thought might intimidate Timmy.

  
“So why did you put a stop to everything with us and Striking Vipers a couple of months back then?”

He chanced a glance up at Timmy who was looking at him with a small smirk forming on his face.

Good, Armie thought, they’d crossed that first hurdle unscathed.

Timmy mirrored the movement with the stem of his glass.

  
“I dunno really... I guess it was guilt more than anything. Guilt for Liz... Guilt for you cos I put you in that situation.  
And I guess I needed to get us out of that zone at some point cos I was terrified that one of our texts would be somehow intercepted by someone”.

  
Armie smiled. They’d had the same fear. He understood that anxiety completely.

“But this morning when you sent me that text saying you missed it, you didn’t even know that me and Liz had separated”

  
Timmy just shrugged.

“I probably just said it cos I was thrust suddenly back into that zone and it felt weird being in the arena with you and not doing the things we used to...  
I also thought it might make you happy to hear it...”

  
Armie scoffed.

“So you said it to please me? Or because you really did miss it?”

  
Timmy just looked at him with a serious expression on his face.

“The second one Armie... do you think I’d lie to you?”

Armie felt awful that he’d doubted Timmy but the answer gave him warmth.  
He knew he could trust Timmy and for now it seemed to be enough. He was here in New York for a few more days - well for as long as he wanted really until it was his time to have the kids again.  
So he knew there was time for them to talk more.  
  
He picked up the wine bottle and poured them both another glass.

  
By 10 they’d got through a second bottle of chianti with a side of dough balls, easy conversation flowing about anything and everything.  
There was only a few others left in the place as they settled the bill and wrapped up in their winter jackets.  
Timmy had pulled a scarf around his neck which fell open the minute he stepped out into the cold New York night, revealing his bare neck, and Armie had to resist an urge to pull him close and tuck it back in for him.

“Hey I’ll walk you back to your hotel with you, then I’ll get the subway home” Timmy offered.

_What? But then Tim will be travelling back on his own._

Timmy must have seen Armie’s panicked expression as he reassured him quickly.

“Don’t worry, I know my way around here a lot better than you do!”

He pointed to a side street on the other side of the road.

“See this is a shortcut to your hotel, you can cut out at least 10 minutes by taking this route rather than walking the length of 44 and then back on yourself”

Armie smiled and allowed himself to be lead by his own private tour guide.

They’d been walking for a good 15 minutes and Armie had definitely noticed how unlit some of these minor streets were.  
It made him feel mildly nervous, both for him and for Timmy, who he silently prayed didn’t walk these routes after dark on a regular basis.  
Timmy was still happily chatting away walking a couple of paces ahead.

A ridiculous thought crossed his mind that Timmy might have purposely taken them down the quiet streets to get him on his own, away from everyone else. The thought made him giddy.  
But he shook his head to himself guessing that it was more likely that Timmy just wanted to get home himself as soon as possible.  
But why insist on walking him home then? He knew that Armie wasn’t familiar with the area but he could have just suggested he get a cab back.

  
The reality of the situation hit him all of a sudden.

_What was he even doing?_

He’d come all the way from LA to get answers, or clarity at least. And he had his subject right there in front of him.  
Why was he wasting valuable time?

  
“Timmy?”

And he didn’t realise he must have said it out loud until Timmy stopped walking and turned round.  
He was sporting a sweet smile that made Armie weak at the knees.

“Just...”

Armie realised that this was going to be THE defining moment in his life - the one where he’d either screw up the best friendship he ever had.... Or gain something even better.  
Timmy was looking at him still, a slight air of confusion now forming on his face.  
Armie offered a reassuring smile as he didn’t want to overwhelm him.

“Just close your eyes for a second, will you.”

  
Timmy raised an eyebrow but did as he was told.

_Now or never Hammer..._

_Ok just do it for fuck sake..._

  
It was almost as if self control had been taken away from him as he walked up to his friend and placed both hands on his face before capturing his lips with his own.  
Time seemed to stand still but after a few seconds he was certain he could sense Timmy responding, puckering his lips and pressing them firmer against his own.  
All kinds of chemicals started flying around Armie’s body at an alarming speed.  
  
He tentatively opened his eyes a fraction to chance a peek at Timmy.

His eyes were closed with his beautiful eyelashes fanned down over the tops of his cheekbones.  
The image shot straight to Armie’s cock.  
He removed his left hand from Timmy’s face and passed it over his shoulder sliding his entire left arm down Timmy’s back.  
He felt Timmy open up at this change of position and caress his lips with his tongue. He’d also slowly crept both of his palms up Armie’s back and they were resting just below his shoulder blades.  
  
Armie took this as a very positive signal to continue and he opened his mouth to grant Timmy the access he wanted.  
He nearly came on the spot when he felt Timmy’s soft tongue push its way in and caress his own.  
  
He couldn’t believe he was finally kissing Timmy for real - no virtual reality, no camera, no director about to shout “Cut!”

He knew Timmy was being affected in a similar way as he felt his cock twitch and press against his thigh.

He pulled back and momentarily broke the connection but only to take Timmy’s hand and lead him a few steps to the side of the street.  
Luckily there were no residences on this stretch, only office buildings which were seemingly closed down for the night.

Without any hesitation Timmy grabbed his face with both hands and planted his lips back onto Armie’s eagerly.  
He was pressing him into the wall that he was backed up against and Armie could do nothing but kiss him back with fervour and slide his hands down to Timmy’s ass seeing as the rest of him was pinned between the wall and Timmy.  
  
Their erections were pressing into each other shamelessly.

Timmy released Armie’s lips from his entrapment and tipped his head to the side to start applying heavenly wet kisses to his neck.  
Armie had been reduced to mush by this point yet every sensation in his body was on high alert.  
The change of activity gave him the opportunity to take a quick look around to see if anyone else was about, even though the feeling made him want to just let his eyes roll back into his head and saviour this moment.  
Luckily for them there wasn’t a soul.

  
“Uh Timmy... perhaps we should go back to my hotel” he breathed after a few seconds.

Timmy released him and nodded.  
  
He was red faced and his lips swollen from Armie’s light facial fuzz.  
But to Armie he’d never looked more beautiful.  
  
They looked intently at each other for a few seconds, both completely stunned and blown away by what had just happened until Timmy opened his mouth to speak.

  
“But we’ll have to go in separately. Like 10 or 15 minutes apart”.

He took a couple of shaky breaths.

  
“Don’t worry, these establishments have got a duty to treat their guests with the utmost discretion. But you’ve gotta consider the paps that might be waiting in the shadows for their money shot”.

Armie just nodded, astounded that Timmy was able to articulate such a full and logical sentence as he wouldn’t have been able to string two words together himself.  
  
He didn’t realise how long he’d been staring until he heard Timmy asking why they were still standing there and going nowhere.  
He collected himself and felt the sudden need to check that Timmy knew what he was getting himself into.

He grabbed Timmy by the shoulder as he was about to turn and continue on their journey.

  
“Timmy... Are you sure about this? I mean... I am very sure but is this what you really want? I don’t wanna mess you up”

  
It was the most surreal feeling, Armie realised he was mimicking lines spoken as Oliver to Elio when they were filming.  
And he was able to clearly see the fears Oliver would have had in that moment.

Timmy smiled. It was a smile that reached his eyes and Armie could see them sparkle and shine with sincerity.

  
“Why do you think I wanted to get you on board with Striking Vipers Armie?  
I knew I was taking a massive gamble when I bought you that console. When I invited you to play that night.  
When I came to check if you were ok after I’d kicked you in the face....”

Armie nodded slightly as a gesture for Timmy to continue.

“So yes, if that’s the word you’re looking for, I am sure. So very sure. I just never...”

Armie noticed Timmy unsuccessfully try to swallow down a lump in his throat.

“I never thought that it would ever happen. Not outside of the virtual reality arena anyway. That’s why I was happy to take whatever I could get...”

He looked contemplative and Armie wanted to grab that face and give him a reason to smile again.

“I know it’s not going to be the easiest ride for us Armz... but it’ll be so worth it if I get to spend it with you”.

  
Armie felt his heart about to burst out through his chest with the sheer adoration and the pride he felt towards the person standing in front of him.  
He was wrong before, TIMMY was the bravest person he knew.

He stepped forward and wrapped his arms tightly around his Timmy, resting his head down on his shoulder and nestling his face in the crook of Timmy’s neck.

As he inhaled his scent deeply he felt his heartbeat begin to return to a normal pace as he allowed himself to finally look forward to what was coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it!
> 
> Ok I lied before - there is a short epilogue after this, set a couple of months later ➡️
> 
> Sneaky bitch aren’t I? 😉😁


	8. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys move forward with their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short piece of fluff taking place at the end of the year.

  
“Happy Birthday gorgeous”

Armie snaked his arm around the bare torso that was lying under the covers with him and pressed his face into Timmy’s neck, nibbling that sweet spot just beneath his ear.  
Timmy hummed low in his throat and Armie rolled eyes at his cock for responding to it like he was a 15 year old boy. 

Timmy turned his head towards him with a contented smile on his face and Armie took advantage of this by capturing his lips with his own in a scorching hot kiss, the perfect way to be woken up so he’d been told.  
The brunette laced his fingers through Armie’s hair and attempted to pull him closer as he responded fully to the kiss, lazily searching out Armie’s tongue with his own.  
  
Eventually Armie felt a hand move down to his semi-erect manhood and wrap around it.

  
“Ooh Armand, is this my present right here?” teased Timmy.

Armie grinned at his horny boyfriend’s insatiability.

  
“Yeah, if you want baby. But later. I’m ordering us some breakfast now”.

  
It had been two of the most amazing months of Armie’s life, since he’d taken that life-changing leap of faith.  
That first night they’d kissed they’d stayed together in Armie’s hotel room but had only made out for a couple of hours, talked and then fell asleep in each other’s arms.  
It was more than what either of them could have hoped for.

It was a couple of days later when they’d made love for the first time - the night before Armie was due to fly back to LA.  
It had been slow and deeply sensual. Each of them being the top in turn taking their sweet time, therefore taking place over several hours long into the night.  
In the morning when they woke, wrapped up in each other’s security, they agreed that it had made them official.  
Not official in the public domain of course, but official to each other.

Now Armie was back in New York again although he’d been a couple of times prior.  
Having spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Liz and the kids, he’d jumped on a flight the following morning to join his boyfriend in time for his birthday.  
He’d booked two nights at a swanky 5-star hotel on Long Island and they’d spent Boxing Day night drinking champagne whilst observing the view from their 24th floor balcony.  
Timmy had thought this little detail that Armie had come up with was totally adorable.  
They could both see the symbolism in that with each passing year, their lives together would soar higher and higher.

  
“Come on Tim, choose what u want for breakfast”.

Armie reached over to retrieve the room service menu from the bedside table and thrust it under Timmy’s nose.

“And then the day is yours to do what you please”.

  
There were plans to go to Nicole’s later on that day.  
It wouldn’t have been the same for Timmy not to see his mama on his birthday so she’d invited them both for a birthday lunch which would inevitably involve more champagne.  
As far as Nicole was concerned, she had been beyond overjoyed when Timmy finally plucked up the courage to tell her about he and Armie, simply stating that it was “about time!”.  
She could see how her son’s eyes sparkled when he spoke about the man in his life and she’d observed them sharing private jokes with just a look which she suspected might be a little bit naughty at times.  
But overall she witnessed Armie treat her son like an absolute queen.  
So to say she was happy was an understatement.

Armie’s mind drifted back to around 5 or 6 weeks ago when he’d told Liz.  
He didn’t know what to expect but there was no reason to keep it from her.  
He was a single dad now, she’d made him that. Though he’d be forever grateful to her for having the courage to make that break for them.  
As it was she was neither that concerned nor happy for him. More neutral than anything.  
Bizarrely she claimed she was happier for Timmy that he’d found someone, a distorted and twisted perspective that Armie tried not to think about as it would surely screw with his head.  
She’d told him from the outset that she didn’t want to know any intimate details, as Timmy was “like my baby brother” and she didn’t want to hear it.  
Oh and that he’d “better not fucking screw it up” apparently.

Ok fair enough.

The kids didn’t really know anything, they were still getting used to the new living arrangements but seemed to be coping well.  
They loved Timmy though, he knew there wouldn’t be an issue.  
He’d FaceTimed with them a few times when he’d been in NYC in a hotel with Tim so, yeah they were young, but they weren’t stupid.

  
Timmy chose eggs benedict with a side of bacon and a double portion of pancakes and syrup for them to share.  
He was pleased to find they had Lavazza which, granted, was the best he was going to get outside of Italy.  
  
Armie opted for a pot of his beloved Earl Grey. Creature of habit.

On their way over to Nicole’s Timmy’s phone beeped with a text from Nick.

**_“Happy Birthday buddy, hope the OLD MAN is spoiling you today!”_ **

Timmy grinned at his phone and turned it to show his boyfriend. 

Armie felt an overwhelming sense of joy that his friends had totally embraced he and Timmy as a couple.  
Although he never doubted it to be honest. Especially with Nick.

Nick had been so over the moon when he had told him he actually shed a tear which Armie jokily mocked him for.  
But it was then that Nick surprised him.

  
“Well seeing as this is the day for fucking awesome news, I’ve got some too”

_Oh?_

Apparently party-planner Sarah had made a reappearance and, in an incredibly bizarre twist of fate, was now expecting their baby in mid August.

Armie was completely floored. He hadn’t been able to hold his emotions as well as Nick, as tear after tear fell shamelessly as he launched himself at his best friend in an emotional man hug.

  
The memory made him smile as they continued the walk to Timmy’s mom’s.

It was cold and sunny but the afternoon sky was starting to darken with every passing minute, and before long the twinkling Christmas lights that adorned the streets and people’s homes started to flicker on.  
It was incredibly romantic and, although they were careful not to walk too closely or make any contact that could provide the New York Post with tomorrow’s headline, they were really both beyond giving a shit whether they were papped or not.  
They were a couple in love and they wanted the world to know it.

On 28th December, in the evening, they travelled together back to LA.  
They’d spent a whole day with Nicole plus Pauline who’d returned home from her boyfriend’s where she’d been since Christmas night.  
Timmy had decided, with their blessing, to spend the New Year with Armie at his.  
He hadn’t been to the new place yet as Armie had always come to him.

As they approached the front door of Armie’s house Timmy suddenly found himself swept up into his boyfriend’s arms in a bridal carry.  
It felt awkward and amazing in equal measures.  
He was astounded that Armie could seemingly take his weight without much effort at all.

That was until Armie put him down as they passed through the door and he clutched his back in jest, complaining:

  
“Shit Timmy, you really need to cut down on those bagels!”


End file.
